I consider myself lucky - I'm lucky because I have the pleasure of working with Aunia Kahn. 

She has been given a very special gift of creating the most spectacular art. She also has a gift of giving ideas life - in art - by designing websites (ahem, like mine). 

When I met her we spent an hour talking about books. We barely even talked about design. But I loved her from the start.

She is kind, she is humble and she opens up in this interview about her experience with not so nice leaders and those that left a positive impact on her life. 

Please listen to Aunia's podcasts: https://auniakahn.com/press/

Please check out her work: https://auniakahn.com/portfolio/

And finally sign for her newsletter: https://auniakahn.com/write-me/

Aunia Kahn is a multi-faceted creative entrepreneur and a globally awarded, collected, and exhibited figurative artist/photographer, graphic/web designer at Auxilium Haus Design, a podcast host at the Auxilium Haus Podcast/Create & Inspire Podcast, a published author (view projects), as well as a teacher and an inspirational speaker.

Her work has been in over 300+ exhibitions in over 10 countries; at places such as San Diego Art Institute, Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, iMOCA, St. Louis Art Museum, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, Mitchell Museum, and the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. She has also been a guest on podcasts like Entrepreneur on Fire, with 70 million downloads & 1 million monthly listens.

Aunia has curated several internationally recognized books and projects, including Silver Era Tarot, Inspirations for Survivors, Obvious Remote Chaos, Minding the Sea: Inviting the Muses Over for Tea, Avalanche of White Reason, XIII: The Art of Aunia Kahn, Witch’s Oracle and the Witch’s Oracle 2nd Edition, Moon Goddess (Modern Eden Gallery) exhibit, Tarot Under Oath (Last Rites Gallery), Lowbrow Tarot Project (La Luz De Jesus Gallery), etc. Her forthcoming projects include; An Epidemic of Retrospective, Disintegrating Stars, and the Ethereal Realms Tarot.

She loves Animals, Prussian blue, Psychology, Design, Miracles, Hummingbirds & Life.

Going out with a *BANG* for 2020

Wawa Holiday Coffee

Body Image

A horrible boss we’ll call “Ursula”

Yep, it’s all in here for our last podcast of 2020. Let’s go out with a bang. In this episode we tackle body image (shout out to all my #curvygirls) and the most delish coffee of the season Wawa Holiday Coffee and Clione’s absolute terror of a boss. A boss that was so bad she could only be described as a literal villain: Ursula.

Cliona Byrne helps Mums to like their bodies so they can raise their kids to be body confident badasses. She's a certified coach and has helped families all over the world to break the cycle of children inheriting their parents' hang-ups and insecurities. She loves carbs, speaks croissant, and loves boobie art.

This is a fun one. 

Branden and I hit it off the very first time we talked. We ended up having the greatest chat and I learned so many great things about him. 

So naturally I asked him to please, please be a guest on Caffeinated Convos & Horrible Bosses. You'll love the story about the best boss (his mom) I know that was my favorite part.  

Branden's work is extremely valuable and necessary for business owners, leaders or people wanting to get something done (the first time). Make sure you check out Maker Bee and the awesome things he is doing!

After working with several sole-proprietor startups through his career, Branden recognized what has become the cornerstone of Maker Bee today: working alone is inefficient, ineffective, and isolating. Nobody chasing their dream should feel like they're alone in their struggles and successes. As a project and accountability manager for these small-businesses, Branden supports founders along each step of the journey by keeping them on track to reach their goals, providing a robust suite of management tools and strategies. Whether you're just starting, growing, or sustaining—we support you along the way.

May I give you some feedback? Glade and I break down when it's NOT ok to ask that in advance. Actually we get deep on feedback and when it has made an impact for both of us.

Get your cozy slippers or your favorite cup of joe (currently I'm binging Wawa holiday blend but that's a whole thing). 

Glade Holman, Founder of LearningBridge and Managing Director of Park Li, has 20 years of experience working with senior executives at global firms like Procter and Gamble, Citigroup, JP Morgan, VISA international, and Glaxo Smith Kline. Glade is passionate about using strategy as a leadership tool. He really likes to work with individual leaders on how to combine the human dimension of leadership along with an analytical dimension and as part of that work, he's very good at using feedback as a foundational starting point for growth and development.

You can find Glade on LinkedIn and more info about LearningBridge here.

My great friend Ken Sher, of Sher Coaching sits down over some really awesome Larry's coffee to chat about bad bosses and examples of some really awesome ones! 

Ken Sher is an Executive Coach and Career Consultant with 30-years’ experience leading and coaching individuals and managerial teams at companies such as Johnson & Johnson and Bristol-Myers Squibb.

In addition to winning multiple achievement awards in various sales & marketing roles and leading the Johnson & Johnson Sales Recruiting Department to record placements, he led 4 different Sales Training & Leadership Development teams including a global organization. Ken's teams designed, developed and delivered leadership training to multiple levels within J & J.

Ken is President of Sher Coaching and he is dedicated to improving individual and team performance by focusing on his TRUST Success Model which, when applied to Leadership and Career Management, can be transformational.

To learn more about Ken or to contact him:

Email: [email protected]

Make an Appointment: Schedule here

Website: shercoaching.com 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kensher/

14-day Job Search Program: Manage Your Career for Whatever Comes Next

Talking Martial Arts, cranky bosses and emerging leaders.  Debbie and I have a lot to talk about in this episode. 

Debbie Pickus is the Founder and CEO of Team Fireball, Inc. a company focused on creating power, confidence and a little bit of badass for her clients which include corporate teams, professional organizations and professional women.

Her 20+ years in fitness and martial arts have given Debbie a unique perspective on the mind/body connection and how to use it as a power source. She works with and speaks to groups about harnessing this power to create confidence, energy and success in their business and personal lives.

With a passion to help women knock out the mental bully that limits them and knowing that a powerful mindset is the first step in building confidence and success, she became certified in a Transformational Mindset methodology and has added this programming to her work including coaching, workshops and a forthcoming online Mental Martial Arts Academy.

When not focused on her business, Debbie spends time with her fiancé Bill, her puppy George and her 3 grown kids whenever the opportunity allows.

Workshops and Speaking Topics:

-Owning Your Value/Future Visioning

-Limiting Beliefs Discovery/Power of Decision Workshops

-From Profit Leaks to Killer Profits in Business

-From Undervalued, Unsure and Insecure to Unstoppable, Fierce and Fired Up

-Morning and Daily Rituals to Boost Confidence and Resourcefulness

Self Defense training programs:

-Basic Personal Safety Awareness (virtual or in person)

-Basics of Personal Safety Hands on Workshop**

-When Terminations Go Wrong- Protecting Yourself and Your Team in the Event of a Hostile Termination

BREAKTHROUGHS Board Breaking Workshop**

** Must be in person

Coaching programs-Mindset

These programs are typically customized-pricing varies

3 -month and 6 -month programs

For Individuals and Groups

WOW we are here!!! Season 2. 

You can expect even more terrible boss stories, and I promise you will be left jaw dropped and wondering "why, oh why, would this person lead others"? Season 2 is about THOSE horrible bosses, the ones that make you cringe, the ones you will never forget, and hopefully the ones you will learn from.  We will also continue to drink obscene amounts of coffee BUT since we are big time we are now exclusively drinking Larry's coffee (link below to get you some of that stuff). 

In our first episode of Season 2 we do not hold back on the horrible boss tragedies and we also do not hold back on our coffee!  

Our guest, Alex Hillman has the coolest book out called The Tiny MBA which is what I believe is the book you need as an entrepreneur and leader in 2020. It's everything you need to know and no fluff or exceedingly lengthy diatribes on what business should be. He tells it like it is. 

After graduating from Drexel, Alex started his Co-Op experience working in software development. He worked with a great team and when a portion of that team started a new venture, Alex thought "hey this will be super cool, I'll work with people I know and like and do what I love". 

And there, my friends, lies the rub. Alex learned pretty quickly that his new boss, was not cut out to lead himself, let alone a team.  Alex was left frustrated but still loving what he was doing, but working for a total tool. You can imagine how long that lasted. 

There is a happy ending at the end of this one though, Alex went on to do some pretty big things. Including being a pioneer in the co-working space. And get this, he even let his members stop paying rent but stay a part of their online community when COVID hit freelancers hard. He also wrote The Tiny MBA and you need to get this book now. You can read it over a lunch break, but you'll go back to it again and again. 

To get your caffeine fix on go here: https://larryscoffee.com/

To get to know Alex and get his book (do this, now): https://stackingthebricks.com/tinymba/#bio

I had the pleasure of having CEO of Employee Cycle, Bruce Marable join me on Caffeinated Convos & Horrible Bosses. He took time to express his newfound love of boxing and cereal. We did some deep diving into how EmployeeCycle is changing the game for HR Heroes. Bruce is thanking HR Heroes through his new website: https://www.thankyouhr.com/.

Bruce is the CEO of EmployeeCycle an HR Data Analytics platform that provides HR Leaders with a simple solution to dashboard metrics for what really matters in people and culture information. They support HR leaders who are stressed out trying to pull data from multiple sources. Their platform is sleek, easy to use and makes it easy to make data informed decision for organizational success. 

You can find Bruce on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/brucemarable and you can check out EmployeeCycle:  https://employeecycle.com/about/

In HR Land there are very few idols or Beyonce's if you will.  You are in for a treat listeners because today you will meet a trailblazer in HR Land who you will completely adore. Saying that Domonique Revere is someone I admire is a gross understatement. I soak up everything she says all the time, I lean on her for direction, viewpoint, ideas and guidance. 

Also she is up for HR Person of the YEAR!! Yes, this year, 2020 - the year of complete chaos and new unchartered territory for HR people.  #NBD

Domonique sits down with me to talk about Mexican Velvety Coffee (yum, yes that sounds delish). We also discuss celebratory champagne.  She doesn't hold back on her honest account of how some terrible bosses try to hold employees' back by not letting them shine (ok those may have been my words but I was summarizing). 

Domonique is the Founder and Owner of Rhemedy,  helping clients with their Learning & Development, Education and Diversity, Inclusion and Equality initiatives and programs. She is also going for her PHD, and is humble but extremely intelligent and provides a unique perspective that highlights the importance of strong cultures built on foundations of trust and honesty. 

A dynamic, kind and smart tech founder who makes his own espresso? Yes please!! In this episode Joseph and I get to chat about all the ways he empowers his employees at Kuvio.  He also shares some secrets on perfect espresso brewing.  Kuvio, his euphoria like tech-company is hiring :). 

Joseph A. Young is the founder and director of architecture at Kuvio Creative, a team of gifted thinkers that craft alluring brands and apps for small businesses and nonprofits. Joseph began his own software career building line-of-business applications and data analytics platforms, but he quickly grew tired of the privileges and biases that pervaded his industry, and he felt compelled to find a way to start correcting the immoral imbalance. He dreamed of a work environment where everyone was an equal contributor, each individual could chase their own passion, and mutual trust guided the working culture.

At Kuvio, Joseph serves as the software architect, geeking out in constant pursuit of beautiful patterns that leverage the immense power of tech to do good in the world. His affinity for experimenting allows his team the space to take the path less traveled and find the most creative solutions to the problems they encounter.

In his role as founder, Joseph is persistent in his quest for an equitable workplace that truly elevates and celebrates the potential of each person on his team. Kuvio’s remote team of 21 hails from eight countries, and they are proud to be diverse by default, with over 50% women and over 50% people of color.