Better Place Project with Steve Norris

Zach Skow, Marley’s Mutts Founder rescued Marley, a Rottweiler-Pit Bull  from the Mojave Shelter in 2002 at eight weeks old. He used to carry him around in a backpack with just his head poking out.

​When Zach was diagnosed with end-stage liver disease, it was Marley who helped pull him from despair and into the fight. It was his relentless love, omnipresent affection, and “today can be the best day of our life” mentality which helped Zach live again.

​When Zach contemplated suicide, Marley looked at him with a blinding affection that just couldn’t be ignored.  He forced Zach to love himself by giving unconditional love.

Zach founded Marley’s Mutts in 2009 and nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status was granted in 2010. Growing from a nonprofit about dog rescue providing second chances and  rescuing the unrescuable dogs, was the Pawsitive Change® Prison Program and Miracle Mutts® Therapy Dog Program.  

Sadly, Marley was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 15 and fought a courageous battle. He crossed over the Rainbow Bridge in 2016 Marley’s Mutts and the Mutt Militia are his legacy.

To stay connected with Better Place Project and for updates and behind the scenes info, please follow us on social media:

Website:
https://www.betterplaceproject.org/

Instagram: @BetterPlaceProj

To follow Steve on Instagram
@SteveNorrisOfficial

Facebook: Facebook.com/BetterPlaceProjectPodcast
Twitter: @BetterPlaceProj
Email: [email protected]

We had a good laugh over this story.  This week’s guest, my good friend Glenn Crawford, who played on the ASU Football Team during their undefeated 12-0 season, tells the story of his wife thinking that he was a “white receiver” back in the day. 😂

But nowadays, Glenn is known more for his work helping people with their financial needs, especially those who happen to be going through something that they never thought they’d have to deal with:  Divorce.

But Glenn is way more than a wealth management advisor and Divorce Coach, he’s also a good human, a charismatic storyteller, and he also just seems to have in his pocket, some golden nuggets of wisdom just about everyday life.  Enjoy this conversation where we tackle a difficult topic, provide some great information, all with a little levity and humor injected. 

Glenn is a Wealth Management Advisor (Series 65), is a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA®), is a Life & Health Agent is Medicare Certified and is a member of Strategic Divorce Planning.

Much of his practice is focused on working with people thinking about, going through or planning their financial future after divorce. In short, he provides people with clarity, comfort and confidence in their decisions in dissolving the family enterprise. He helps them understand the question everyone asks, “Am I going to be OK?”

Glenn, himself, was divorced after 24 years of marriage and raising 3 young adults. He knows firsthand the physical, mental and emotional strain of divorce.  Glenn’s mission is to “clear the fog” so clients can better navigate the divorce process by providing clarity, comfort and confidence when it comes to their decisions about marital asset division and understanding their “new financial future.”

For more information on Glenn:
https://www.strategicdivorceplanning.com/
Instagram: @glenntcrawford

To stay connected with Better Place Project and for updates and behind the scenes info, please follow us on social media:

Website:
https://www.betterplaceproject.org/

Instagram: @BetterPlaceProj

To follow Steve on Instagram
@SteveNorrisOfficial

Facebook: Facebook.com/BetterPlaceProjectPodcast
Twitter: @BetterPlaceProj
Email: [email protected]

Have you heard about ChatGPT yet?  If not, you need to know about it.  It is a brand new world of artificial intelligence and we better pay attention to it or we could very well pay a price.

in this short solo episode, I break it down for you, show you the awesome capability that it has, but also present the very real concerns that we all need to take very seriously.

This is some powerful technology that needs to be respected.  If we can harness it properly, it can be of huge benefit to mankind and greatly improve our lives.  But if we don’t take it seriously, it can take us down.

Tap the link in bio to listen.

To stay connected with Better Place Project and for updates and behind the scenes info, please follow us on social media:

Website:
https://www.betterplaceproject.org/

Instagram: @BetterPlaceProj

To follow Steve on Instagram
@SteveNorrisOfficial

Facebook: Facebook.com/BetterPlaceProjectPodcast
Twitter: @BetterPlaceProj
Email: [email protected]

What a remarkable conversation I had with the truly remarkable Chloé’ Valdary!

Chloé’s insights and teachings on anti-racism that she’s bringing to the world via her organization Theory of Enchantment, are game-changing, yet at their core, are simply based on unity and love. The curriculum of Theory of Enchantment is rooted in 3 guiding principles:

1) Treat people like human beings, not political abstractions

2) Criticize to uplift and empower, never to tear down or destroy.

3) Root everything you do in love and compassion.

To listen to the wisdom and knowledge coming from Chloe, you would think she has been at this for 30+ years.  But what is even more astounding is that she has not yet celebrated her 30th birthday! But she passionately and unapologetically spreads her message of love, while challenging us on how best to tear down the walls of racism.  In fact, I love that she, in a very respectful and eloquent way, subtly called me out on a few things in this episode, which led me to pause and reflect on how I am showing up in the anti-racism discussion, and whether or not I am always truly checking my ego at the door in discussions pertaining to equality and racism.

Listen in and let us know your thoughts on how we can all collectively learn from each other, understand each other better, and build a more kind, united, and loving society.

After a year as a Bartley Fellow at The Wall Street Journal, Chloé Valdary developed the Theory of Enchantment (ToE), an innovative framework for compassionate anti-racism that combines social-emotional learning (SEL), character development, and interpersonal growth as tools for leadership development in the boardroom and beyond.

Her work has been covered in Psychology Today, and her writings have appeared in the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. She’s lectured in universities across America, including Harvard and Georgetown. She continues her work with Theory of Enchantment to bring compassion to diversity inclusion training and fight bigotry with love.

To learn more, please visit:
https://theoryofenchantment.com/

Online Curriculum
John Vervaeke's meditations
Theoryofenchantment.com
Substack
Podcast
Instagram: 
@CValdary
@Theoryofenchantment

To stay connected with Better Place Project and for updates and behind the scenes info, please follow us on social media:

Website:
https://www.betterplaceproject.org/

Instagram: @BetterPlaceProj

To follow Steve on Instagram
@SteveNorrisOfficial

Facebook: Facebook.com/BetterPlaceProjectPodcast
Twitter: @BetterPlaceProj
Email: [email protected]

Louise Phipps Senft, Founder and CEO of Baltimore Mediation  is an attorney and nationally recognized Transformative Mediator for Family, Divorce, Commercial and Complicated Business and Healthcare Issues. She is the author of the best-selling book, Being Relational: the Seven Ways to Quality Interaction & Lasting Change. She is also the creator of a Top 15 Podcast, Blink of an Eye, on trauma and trauma healing, and she is the founder of the non profit I C THAT, the Integrative Center for Trauma Healing, Advocacy and Transformation, changing the way we respond to Spinal Cord Injury.

She has been named a top CEO in the state of Maryland and she has been awarded on multiple occasions the distinguished “Top 100 Women” in Maryland honor. 

Ms. Senft’s life was changed when one of her five children was tragically injured in a 2015 freak diving accident in the ocean surf rendering him a quadriplegic. She spent months living by his side in ICU’s and hospitals battling for his life and quality of his care, paralyzed from the neck down. She and her family responded with love and fierce advocacy. Her son Archer’s choice to live and be hopeful has been a beacon to many. She brings this life experience combined with her years of intuition, relational practices, and conflict transformation skills to leaders committed to making a difference in the lives of those they serve. She created Blink of an Eye Podcast in 2020 during the Pandemic, her own storytelling of her experience with Archer and the medical profession, which includes trauma healing insights and learnings. Blink of an Eye has thousands of listeners across the U.S. In 2021, she founded the non-profit, the Integrative Center for Trauma Healing, Advocacy, and Transformation, I C THAT, to be a national resource to families and medical teams to change the way we respond to Spinal Cord Injury.

Blink of an Eye 501(c)(3) Nonprofit: www.blinkofaneye.org
@blinkofaneyenonprofit on IG / FB
Blink of an Eye Podcast: www.blinkofaneyepodcast.com
@blinkofaneyepodcast on IG / FB
Baltimore Mediation: www.baltimoremediation.com
@baltimoremediation on IG / FB

To stay connected with Better Place Project and for updates and behind the scenes info, please follow us on social media:

Website:
https://www.betterplaceproject.org/

Instagram: @BetterPlaceProj

To follow Steve on Instagram
@SteveNorrisOfficial

Facebook: Facebook.com/BetterPlaceProjectPodcast
Twitter: @BetterPlaceProj
Email: [email protected]

This was a first for me.  I had a blast just shooting the sh*t with Adam Carbary of Embrace & Expand.

Adam and I decided to not interview each other on our separate podcasts, but rather just plug in the mics and chat, no set questions (except the 1 signature questions from each of our podcasts), just two wanderers in the world sharing their journeys.  

Adam has a question he asks his guests on his show: "What did you have to embrace in your life in order to expand into the person you are today?” What a magnificent question!  This clip includes portions of my attempt to answer it.  And Adam answers Better Place Project’s signature question, “What advice do you have for us and our listeners on how we can help make the world a better place,” with as beautiful an answer as I have ever gotten for this question.  And obviously he has mastered the art of brevity WAY better than I have! 

Adam, who founded Embrace & Expand in 2021, is a fellow @Somaticrelease Breathwork Practitioner, a Wellness Coach and a Reiki Teacher.  He also happens to be a beautiful human being who is a much-needed lightworker in this world.

To follow Adam:
https://www.embraceandexpand.com/
Instagram: @Adam.Carbary
@embraceandexpand

To stay connected with Better Place Project and for updates and behind the scenes info, please follow us on social media:

Website:
https://www.betterplaceproject.org/

Instagram: @BetterPlaceProj

To follow Steve on Instagram
@SteveNorrisOfficial

Facebook: Facebook.com/BetterPlaceProjectPodcast
Twitter: @BetterPlaceProj
Email: [email protected]

Imagine having to endure the senseless murder of your beautiful, innocent 6 year-old child, and then having to endure the torment of a powerful media personality screaming to his rabid fan base that the Sandy Hook Massacre was all a hoax, that you are a liar...a paid actor, and that your son never existed!

In this episode, Steve & Scarlett talk about that fateful day 10 years ago, and how she got through those first brutal days, and how she confronted Alex Jones, the Infowars head and man behind the conspiracies, face to face in court.  But if you are expecting bitterness and anger in this conversation, you will not find it in Scarlett.  Instead, you may find yourself inspired by what can happen in our lives when we choose love.

Scarlett Lewis founded the nonprofit Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement in honor of her son, Jesse, who was murdered during the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy in December 2012. Shortly after his death, Scarlett decided to be part of the solution to the issues that we’re seeing in our society — that also caused the tragedy — and turned it into an opportunity to build a culture of love, resilience, forgiveness, and connection in our communities at a time when it is needed the most.


For more information on Choose Love Movement, please visit:
https://chooselovemovement.org/

To stay connected with Better Place Project and for updates and behind the scenes info, please follow us on social media:

Website:
https://www.betterplaceproject.org/

Instagram: @BetterPlaceProj

To follow Steve on Instagram
@SteveNorrisOfficial

Facebook: Facebook.com/BetterPlaceProjectPodcast
Twitter: @BetterPlaceProj
Email: [email protected]

Matthew Fray is a relationship coach and writer who leans on the lessons of his failed marriage and divorce to help others avoid making the same mistakes. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Times and The Sunday Times of London, The Daily Mail, Salon, Huffington Post, as well as with television programs The Tamron Hall Show in the United States and ITV's This Morning in the United Kingdom. He is the author of "This is How Your Marriage Ends: A Hopeful Approach to Saving Relationships." And his blog, Must Be This Tall To Ride has a dedicated following which has reached millions of readers.

For more information, please visit:
https://matthewfray.com/

To stay connected with Better Place Project and for updates and behind the scenes info, please follow us on social media:

Website:
https://www.betterplaceproject.org/

Instagram: @BetterPlaceProj

To follow Steve on Instagram
@SteveNorrisOfficial

Facebook: Facebook.com/BetterPlaceProjectPodcast
Twitter: @BetterPlaceProj
Email: [email protected]

I am back from hiatus and kicking off 2023 with the inspiring Clint Hatton, the founder of BigBoldBrave.

BigBoldBrave was inspired by the life of Clint’s oldest son, Gabriel, who achieved his life-long dream of becoming a pilot at the young age of only 17.  But unfortunately, just months later, to the sheer horror of his family, Gabriel tragically died in a plane crash.  In this episode, Clint openly shares what happened that fateful night, what it was like to receive the news, and then have to tell his two younger sons who had just lost their big brother.

 This is one of the most powerful conversations I’ve ever had, on or off this podcast. Yes, this is a tragic story.  Yes, some tears are shed. But as you are about to hear, this is also a beautiful story about love, family, marriage, hope, dreams, gratitude, and as Gabriel teaches us, living a big, bold and brave life, in spite of the obstacles and challenges we face on  our journey.

To learn more about Clint or to order a copy of his new book, please visit BigBoldBrave.us
To Subscribe to the BigBoldBrave weekly newsletter, please visit:
https://bigboldbrave.us/join
Instagram: @Clint.Hatton

To stay connected with Better Place Project and for updates and behind the scenes info, please follow us on social media:

Website:
https://www.betterplaceproject.org/

Instagram: @BetterPlaceProj

To follow Steve on Instagram
@SteveNorrisOfficial

Facebook: Facebook.com/BetterPlaceProjectPodcast
Twitter: @BetterPlaceProj
Email: [email protected]

In this Encore Christmas Bonus Episode from 2020, Erin and I chat about our own holiday traditions growing up and what we look forward to the most about the holidays. We even take a trip down memory lane and listen to clips of some Norris original Christmas songs from the 90s and early 2000s. That’s right, we have our own Christmas album. Pour yourself some eggnog or hot cocoa and enjoy this holiday special!

To stay connected with Better Place Project and for updates and behind the scenes info, please follow us on social media:

Website:
https://www.betterplaceproject.org/

Instagram: @BetterPlaceProj

To follow Steve on Instagram
@SteveNorrisOfficial

Facebook: Facebook.com/BetterPlaceProjectPodcast
Twitter: @BetterPlaceProj
Email: [email protected]