805conversations

Making connections by being genuine

James Joyce III, the District Director, 19th State Senate District, and Mark had an engaging conversation about an innovative new social impact movement to help bridge the interpersonal and racial divide.

There was a lot of ground covered in this conversation, including:

-How Coffee with a Black Guy got started

-What brought James to the Central Coast

-How's a journalist get involved in public policy and why?

-What are the three skills needed to become a Journalist?

-Give before you get

-Follow your natural curiosity

-Be genuine

-What it's like being the only black face in the room

-His racism story

-The Sky High Club (for tall people)

-His inspiration: Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee

-Coffee with a Black Guy on Facebook

"You and me, helping you get better"

Yes faithful listener, this is our 100th show. Thanks for your support. You're in for a great show today!

Jim Cathcart, author, speaker, coach, and mentor sat with Mark to talk about his most recent book, The Self Motivation Handbook. Jim's a world traveler and has a thousand stories, we only had time for a few, and they were great.

There was a lot of ground covered in this conversation, including:

• How he's managed to write 18 books (see entire list here)

• His 4th-grade teacher, Ms. Waters

• Being an advisor at California Lutheran's School of Management (805conversations' sponsor)

• Buzzword Bingo: Applied Behavioural Science

• His mentor: Earl Nightingale, from Arkansas

• His tips for preparing to give a presentation

• Review what you already know

• Emails, brochures, all your interactions

• Go over your presentation

• Have a meal alone and consider your talk in your head

• Engage their mind

• Trick for engaging the audience: look at their eyes and look at the tops of their heads, that means that they've tilted down to write a note about something you just said

• Zig Ziglar

• Why should the audience care about you?

• Thomas Merton - another guiding light for Jim

• Audience engagement trick #2: Who has the 2nd question - no one wants to ask the first question

• His fascinating story about the founding of the National Speakers Association (NSA)

• 1989 - becoming president of the NSA

• His personal memory tricks for people giving presentations

• Link to his new book, The Self-Motivation Handbook

• 68 Ways to Motivate Yourself

• 268 One-minute Lessons in Self-Motivation

Serving and saving people on their worst day

Shelli Varela, firefighter, author, podcaster, speaker and mentor spent time with Mark talking about what motivates her and how she motivates those around her.

There was a lot of ground covered in this conversation, including:

• Her story about becoming the first female firefighter in Mississauga, Canada

• "I made a difference and make an impact" You'll hear this a lot in the show

• Cool tech: TIC, Thermal Energy Cameras

• Being an Artist and writing her first sonnet at 8 years old

• Her fascination with special effect make-up

• A quick bit about the Childrens' Book she wrote

• Who's her biggest hero

• What it was like working with the Junior Female Firefighter Bootcamp, where she received national recognition

• Her goal to be on the New York Times Bestseller list

• "Always and only - look at the end goal."

• Her three tips for achieving your goals

• Until you start, you won't realize all the serendipitous things that can happen along the path

• Identify your goal worth chasing

• What's the goal beneath the goal, what are the benefits of reaching it?

• Breaking down the steps into small, doable tasks to reduce the feeling of overwhelm

• The YES Effect podcast and how that got started

• Shelli's podcast, The YES Effect, is great and you'll love the variety of guests she gets on the show

Sending the human spirit to the bottom of the ocean

Melissa Baffa, VP of Programs and Volunteer Service for the Central Coast Girl Scouts spoke with Mark about her upcoming journey to the bottom of the Ocean. Her love of the ocean and how that passion impacts her work with girls is very evident in this conversation.

Melissa is a part of the Ocean Exploration Trust's mission to explore the world's oceans and bring the wonder of discovery to the world in real time through the Nautilus Live website. The organization's founder is Dr. Robert Ballard, most famous for having discovered the final resting place of the HMS Titanic.

There was a lot of ground covered in this conversation, including:

• What her job is at the Girl Scouts

• What the Ocean Exploration Trust is all about

• How the Girl Scouts can operate with 5,500 local volunteers

• A great discussion about Dr. Robert Ballard and his dream of a Wet NASA

• How Dr. Ballard coined the term, telepresence

• A lovely discussion about one of my heroes, Sylvia Earle

• What is Chemo Synthesis

• Ah, the Dumbo Octopus

• Women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)

This is a great episode that shows how passion and enthusiasm for a topic, like the Ocean, can be so fulfilling.

What are you seeing that's not yet visible?

Russell Bishop, author, speaker, consultant and world-traveler sat with host Mark Sylvester to talk about his insights gathered over a lifetime of working with people and their potential. Russell's latest work, Workarounds that Work, is a fascinating read, especially for those trying to get things done in complicated and convoluted environments.

One of the early pioneers in the field of large group personal development, he created Insight Seminars in 1978, followed by Insight Consulting Group. In the mid-1980's he co-founded Productivity Development Group along with David Allen. To date, well over one million people in 43 countries have participated in seminars designed by Russell.

There was a lot of ground covered in this conversation, including:

• A brief history of his work in the human potential movement, starting with Insight Seminars in the 60's

• A recent conversation he had with Frances Hesselbein, famous for her work with the Girl Scouts.

• How the GSA changed from an Ozzie and Harriet brand to one that focuses on inner city diversity, and why that made a difference

• "How do you pay attention?"

• Loved this quote: Never curse the rung of the ladder that got you where you are."

• He explains the difference between Symbols and Experience with examples of how to make them work for you

• We looked at the concept of Awakening - which is behind the title of this post, Becoming more of who you already are.

• How to Ask Questions

• Be genuinely curious

• Have a desire to learn and explore

• Care about the other person and their answer

• An anecdote about Esalen

• "A question is simply a demand with a hook on the end of it."

• Loved this distinction on how to reframe a question

- "Mark, what do you think?"

- "Mark, tell me what you think."

• The Art of Inquiry - I want to see this as a book

• Favorite buzzword: Neurocardiology

• "Most things in the universe are simple."

• "There are 3 2's in the English language. To. Too. Two.

• The story about Icebergs v. Snowflakes

• And finally this one,"Human being v Human doing

We've invited Russell back, as it's clear this is a conversation that needs a part 2.

Russell is hosting a conference called Conscious Conversations in September - information here.

I lost one pound 225 times

Tinier Tim Bauer talks about being an entrepreneur and how being morbidly obese affected his entire life. Mark and he discuss his radical transformation and the impact he's now able to make with others.

There was a lot of ground covered in this conversation, including:

• Becoming a 'tinier Tim' - how he got his nickname

• How his weight affected being a business man

• His background in direct sales - an interesting story that we've never discussed before

the year after losing all the weight

• How his sales improved 100%

• The value of small efforts repeated daily

• His adherence to David Allens Getting Things Done methodology

• How the Karate Kid is a metaphor for a way of teaching

• How he tried every diet, from South Beach to the North Pole

• The 5 Tennis Ball Story

• "Being inspired without being inspiring"

• #DontSettle

• Gamification of the weight loss process

• FITOCRACY

• Wellness - Fitness - Nutrition

• How teachers challenge us

• A discussion about Stephen Covey's 4 Quadrants: Urgent, but not important, Important, but not urgent, Urgent and Important, Not important and not urgent

• "A business falls apart slowly like a body falls apart."

• "Don't neglect tomorrow, at the cost of today."

• Caring for the physical wellness of his staff

• 3 Things to help you in Sales

• Everything but the Fire (you need to hear his opening story for this to make sense)

• Finding opportunity where no one else see's them

• Realize that from every opportunity, you can learn (from your mistakes)

Space is the most powerful way of conveying meaning on the screen

Roger Durling, the Executive Director of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival loves film. This conversation with Mark Sylvester delved into how this passion started as he gives us a Master Class in Film Appreciation.

There was a lot of ground covered in this conversation, including:

Why he has watched Lost in Translation more than 20 times

His strong attraction to teaching and why (He's been teaching Film Studies at Santa Barbara City College for 13 years)

Don't ask him to choose between the Film Festival and Teaching

How he is the product of teaching opportunities

How a teacher from 1978 deeply affected his life until just a couple of years ago

Why he's so passionate about young people gaining a deep appreciation for Broadway and how he funds an initiative that does just that at his former prep school.

His college days at Syracuse and his drama teacher - and the impact of him on his path in life

A deep dive into the Film Studies and other educational programs at SBIFF

Mark gives Roger a superpower: The ability to see things that directors do that no one else ever consciously notices.

According to Roger, great directors do this:

Understand the power of color

Proximic patterns (this is very cool, listen to hear his explanation)

Sound

Movement - who knew about left > right and right > left

Claim responsibility for your health

Terence Carfrae, founder of Temple, a center for wellness, meditation and fitness sat with host Mark Sylvester to talk about his dedication to helping others. This fascinating conversation ended up in some surprising places. There's a great bit about suffering and why you should embrace it.

There was a lot of ground covered in this conversation, including:what's the target demographic for the HUB?

How he was motivated to focus on wellness

The founding of Temple in Santa Barbara

Why Santa Barbara?

How he works with new clients and the questions he asks them all

"Meet them where they are at."

Why suffering serves a purpose

How failure factors into his world view

How to Avoid Pain

"It's not about the teaching, it's about the questions" (so true)

A discussion with Mark about Beginner's Mind

What he means when he confesses to being a 'novelty nerd'

How business is like Chess - what's his favorite piece?

His thoughts about respiration

The Seven Pillars of Wellness - write this down

Mind / Emotion

Breathing

Water

Food

Movement

Sleep

Connection / Love

Remain hopeful. Get involved. Envision the future. Participate.

State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson sat with host Mark Sylvester to talk about public service, collaboration and a series of issues that face the Central Coast.

Here's just a bit of what you'll learn from this engaging conversation:

The JEDI Initiative

Three benefits to consider from a life of public service

Improving the world

Challenging work that helps make life better

A chance to exercise your creativity

It's not all roses; it's frustrating, and we don't honor public servants or service

Tips to being an effective public servant

Listen - "What's keeping us apart?"

Respect - "Don't disrespect, honor disagreement."

The Role of Government: Protection and Safety of the People

People pay attention when they have skin in the game

The rise of Social Entrepreneurs

"Your vote is your voice - your voice is your vote."

Final thought after a long conversation about gun control (Note: This episode was recorded five days after the Orlando mass shooting.)

Dan Ball, Program Manager at the new HUB 101 at the Center for Entrepreneurship in Westlake talked with host Mark about running an incubator and co-working space. HUB 101 is a part of California Lutheran University.

There was a lot of ground covered in this conversation, including:

what's the target demographic for the HUB?

The "School for Startups" - 10-week program

Stress-test your idea with real customers

STARTUPNEXT

Recycling success back into the community

Think of us as a gym membership for entrepreneurs

Classes and Programming

Startup Boot Camp - PACE program in the evening

High School student consultant story - a great one

Market Validation

Success Stories - 80 members now since the first of the year

Metrics for success

Event attendance - it's growing

Funded projects - attracting investors

Getting a nice mix of people to the space

Quantified success of the members

Coaching and Mentoring