Christian's Corner

In this short organic clip, I share what this short-form, member's only series of Good Explanations is about. 

Connect with Christian:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/goodexplanations

Website: https://christianscorner.org

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Chrisalfaro1017

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrisalfaro17

Newsletter: https://christianscorner.substack.com/p/growing-up

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/goodexplanations

In this organic clip, I talk to Stephanie about who I'm making content for. If you enjoy conversational depth from a student of Life, you've come to the right place. 

As Seth Godin says, "Everyone is not your customer."

He also has said, “Our job is to make change. Our job is to connect to people, to interact with them in a way that leaves them better than we found them.”

Thank you for being a part of this Kula.

Connect with Christian:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/goodexplanations

Website: https://christianscorner.org

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Chrisalfaro1017

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrisalfaro17

Newsletter: https://christianscorner.substack.com/p/growing-up

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/goodexplanations

Introducing Good Explanations #5 with Toni's thoughtful answer to one of my questions.

Toni is a rockstar. A thoughtful entrepreneur who has built her life around Art and championing artists, or as she and the team have coined such people, creative professionals. We met at a coffee shop over a borrowed piece of paper and little did I know how wonderful she is. After learning more about Toni, I realized she was my first Tim Ferriss-esque guest. A real-life kickass doer who also knows how to express her vulnerability, both on and off the air.

In this episode, Toni and I talk about, well talking, and why we must give it a shot even if we don't know what to say. We also discuss how the word Art has evolved in her life and throughout history, dropping the overwhelming need for balance, how to turn big ideas into small strategic steps, and so much more.

On Toni:

Toni Sikes is a successful entrepreneur with 30 years of operational, fundraising, and investment banking experience.  She is the founder of three art companies and currently serves as the co-founder and CEO of CODAworx, the global leader in commissioned art, serving as a professional network for a wide variety of artists, design professionals, and industry resources.

Sikes has spent her 30-year career connecting artists to their best markets.  As the founder of The Guild, a pioneering e-commerce company that brought the work of artists directly to consumers, she raised over $50 million from leading venture capital firms.

Toni is also General Partner in Calumet Venture Fund.  Previously she was a Senior Advisor at Gruppo, Levey & Co., a New York investment bank, where she led their technology practice focused on helping technology companies in their financing and M&A strategies. While serving on the boards and advisory board of several technology companies.  She is active in Wisconsin and national economic development organizations. She is the Past Chair of the Wisconsin Technology Council, the Advisory Board of MERLIN Mentors, the Board of Advisors of the UW Weinert Center for Entrepreneurs, and the Board of Directors of Healthy Minds Innovations and BuildingBrave.

She holds a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Alabama and an M.S. in Market Research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Connect with Toni:

Website: https://www.codaworx.com/

If you listened to this podcast and are up for it, I'd truly appreciate a review & any feedback on Apple Podcasts. At a minimum, it is a chance for me to connect with you, at a medium, your feedback could convince just the right person to give Good Explanations a listen (or avoid it), and at a maximum, it can help influence the future, harder-to-get guests to join us for a discussion on Life.

Connect with Christian:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/goodexplanations

Website: https://christianscorner.org

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Chrisalfaro1017

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrisalfaro17

Newsletter: https://christianscorner.substack.com/p/growing-up

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/goodexplanations

Affiliate Brands:

Float Milwaukee

MUD/WTR

YogaSix Milwaukee

Meat on the Street

Introducing Good Explanations #4 with Derek's wonderful answer to one of my questions. 

Connect with Derek:

Website: https://www.derekbellwellness.com/

Podcast: https://www.derekbellwellness.com/highway-to-well-podcast-1

If you listened to this podcast and are up for it, I'd truly appreciate a review & any feedback on Apple Podcasts. At a minimum, it is a chance for me to connect with you, at a medium, your feedback could convince just the right person to give Good Explanations a listen (or avoid it), and at a maximum, it can help influence the future, harder-to-get guests to join us for a discussion on Life.

Connect with Christian:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/goodexplanations

Website: https://christianscorner.org

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Chrisalfaro1017

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrisalfaro17/

Newsletter: https://christianscorner.substack.com/p/growing-up

Derek B. was introduced to me thanks to Derek M. Small world to be a Derek... However, in the conversation with Derek Bell, we explored much different ground, and speaking with him allowed me to go deeper on things I had only known about from more of a surface level. This was the first time I had a guest where we had no prior relationship. But, that's the beauty of people and this platform. Whether I've known someone for decades or minutes prior to recording, everyone has a story to share and some knowledge to drop and Derek did not disappoint.

In this episode, Derek and I discuss new perspectives of wellness (which is a big word & topic), our relationship to writing, reading, and exercising, what self-therapy might look like, Derek being a Law School dropout, the power of cultivating micro-moments, and so much more.

On Derek:

Derek Bell, MS, CWP, loves whammy bars, soccer, peanut butter. and eats burpees for lunch. An amateur ultramarathoner and CrossFit fan, Derek is the leader of Wellness & Strategy for Ascension Wisconsin at Work. He is also a faculty member at Mid-State Technical College, where he teaches behavior change and population health management, Derek is helping to grow a world where humility, kindness, and generosity reign. He believes a happy and fruitful life requires being CONNECTED, CARING for yourself and others, CONTRIBUTING to your community, and exploring your CREATIVITY.

Derek received his bachelor’s degree from Knox College and his master’s from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point. Prior to his work at Ascension, Derek directed the National Wellness Institute, including the National Wellness Conference. Recently, Derek won the United Soccer Coaches Association High School Coach of Significance award for developing assets in youth through his implementation of the Coaching Boys into Men Program with the Stevens Point High School soccer team, where he is the head coach.

With over 20 years of experience in wellness, Derek has worked with some of the best minds in the field. His passion lies in the evolving nature of wellness and its interaction with the human experience. You can listen to these discussions in his podcast series, “Highway to Well,” and the accompanying podcast, “AMWAP.”

Connect with Derek:

Website: https://www.derekbellwellness.com/

Podcast: https://www.derekbellwellness.com/highway-to-well-podcast-1

If you listened to this podcast and are up for it, I'd truly appreciate a review & any feedback on Apple Podcasts. At a minimum, it is a chance for me to connect with you, at a medium, your feedback could convince just the right person to give Good Explanations a listen (or avoid it), and at a maximum, it can help influence the future, harder-to-get guests to join us for a discussion on Life.

Connect with Christian:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/goodexplanations

Website: https://christianscorner.org

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Chrisalfaro1017

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrisalfaro17/

Newsletter: https://christianscorner.substack.com/p/growing-up

For me, Derek is the coach of a lifetime, and I'm lucky to be on round three with him and he has demanded excellence every single day we’ve spent together since we met. Whether it was on the field, eating with the team afterward, or Now, as I begin this new journey. Derek has always been able to bring out the best in me or get me to bring out the best in me; whether it was on the field, eating with the team afterward, or Now, as I begin this new journey. He's a combination of an older brother, coach, and mentor gift wrapped into one human and he continues to teach me in soccer and in life while never forgetting the importance of humor and sharing some laughs.

In this episode, Derek and I discuss what he's learned while coaching and building relationships, how and why we can be more empathic as males, what being a Father & a Husband means to him, how a tragic moment helped him find himself, and so much more.

On Derek:

Derek Marie returned to his alma mater, Carroll University, in 2013 as an assistant men’s soccer coach, before being named the head coach prior to the 2018 season. He was a standout performer for the Pioneers, earning all-Midwest Conference honors in each of his four seasons at Carroll, making him one of just three players in team history to achieve the feat. Marie also garnered state and regional recognition during his career, with first-team all-Wisconsin and second-team All-Central Region accolades following his junior campaign. He played a vital role in Carroll’s first-ever Midwest Conference title in 2007 and the team’s first Midwest Conference Championship in 2008. The 2008 team also won the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament game.

Connect with Derek:

Carroll: https://gopios.com/staff-directory/derek-marie/70

Podcast Guest: https://www.derekbellwellness.com/podcast-blog/highway-to-well-dmarie

If you listened to this podcast and are up for it, I'd truly appreciate a review & any feedback on Apple Podcasts. At a minimum, it is a chance for me to connect with you, at a medium, your feedback could convince just the right person to give Good Explanations a listen (or avoid it), and at a maximum, it can help influence the future, harder-to-get guests to join us for a discussion on Life.

Connect with Christian:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/goodexplanations

Website: https://christianscorner.org

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Chrisalfaro1017

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrisalfaro17/

Newsletter: https://christianscorner.substack.com/p/growing-up

As you'll learn below, Mr. Collins, aka PC, aka Jim, has done and continues to do many great things professionally. Most importantly to me, however, is the impact he's had on my personal life. While we were born in two different generations, we get along like peanut butter & jelly or eggs & bacon. President Collins has become one of my dearest friends, truest advisors, and Guru-esque in my life. 

In this episode of Good Explanations, I largely turn the tables on my (unofficial) Therapist and ask him questions on how he thinks about & makes decisions, what he's learned as a husband, father, Mentor, and Mentee, learning when to ask for help or say something, and so much more. And, as any great friend does, Jim lets me riff on a couple of matters that naturally arise. 

I hope you enjoy the second podcast of Good Explanations with my best of friends, President Jim Collins.

James (Jim) Collins obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Finance from Loras College in 1984 and a Master of Arts degree in Higher Education from the University of Iowa in 2004. After graduating from Loras, Mr. Collins returned to campus as an admissions representative and has continued to operate in a variety of positions in his 37 years of service at Loras College. In 1999, he was appointed as the College’s Senior Vice President, before being elected in 2004 as Loras College's 26th President.

During his presidential tenure, Collins has served as a leader on the national, state, and local fronts to include: Chair, Treasurer, and board member of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities; Board of Regents and Board of Trustees, Seton Hall University; Chair, Iowa Association of Independent Colleges and Universities; Executive Committee, National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities; Chair, Greater Dubuque Development Corporation, and Archdiocese of Dubuque Board of Education.

A Crystal Lake, IL native and the oldest of 6 children, Jim has been twice recognized as one of America’s Top 100 Irish Educators. In 2007, he was also recognized by his high school, Marian Central Catholic High School, with the Alumni Excellence Award.

Connect with Jim:

Website: https://www.loras.edu/administration/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimcollins5/

If you listened to this podcast and are up for it, I'd truly appreciate a review & any feedback on Apple Podcasts. At a minimum, it is a chance for me to connect with you, at a medium, your feedback could convince just the right person to give Good Explanations a listen (or avoid it), and at a maximum, it can help influence the future, harder-to-get guests to join us for a discussion on Life.

Connect with Christian:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/goodexplanations

Website: https://christianscorner.org

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Chrisalfaro1017

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrisalfaro17/

Newsletter: https://christianscorner.substack.com/p/growing-up

Good Explanations strives to be a podcast exploring the dance of being a good person and an intelligent professional.

"To be interesting is to be interested," and my curiosity is endless towards those who combine excellence with success and make it a priority to reflect upon themselves, their experiences, and their work.

My goal is to simplify and share true, good, and beautiful stories, ideas, and lessons. Whether these are expressed by guests or myself, I hope to deepen, expand, and clarify the relationship with ourselves, and in turn, the worlds unfolding all around us.

By exploring the complexity, beauty, simplicity, and challenges that arise as a result of being human, I hope to help guide you towards your own answers to these big questions. And as one of my Teachers once shared, “You’ll find that with all the great questions of life, the answers are all paradoxes. This is why, at some level, it’s sort of pointless to pursue them in order to find a trite answer. But the act of pursuing them is actually really useful because it gives you a certain intrinsic understanding within your life that brings a level of peace.”

"When it's time to get serious," therapy is there to help guide us back to ourselves. As Stephanie's mentor said, it's at this point an individual comes to therapy or therapy comes to them.

As you'll learn below, Stephanie is a legit-ass therapist and my legit-ass therapist for a few years now. She has influenced my way of thinking and as a healthy consequence, living, as much as anyone in my life. She has taught me how to ask better questions of myself, lean into feelings and emotions, remain curious throughout uncertainty, and the power of meeting myself where I'm at in order to build bridges towards the person I aspire to become.

In this conversation, Stephanie and I highlight what therapy is and might look like. We also talk about the importance of prioritizing bored time, fostering internal curiosity, intellectualizing feelings and emotions, creating space for ourselves and others, and much more.

I hope you enjoy the first podcast of Good Explanations with my first Spiritual Teacher (and current Therapist) Stephanie Larsen.

Stephanie Larsen LCPC, CST, E-RYT, is a licensed clinical counselor, certified sex therapist, and experienced yoga instructor. She has worked at inpatient and outpatient mental health programs for years, created and ran a wellness program for hospital staff at Cancer Treatment Centers of America, does contract work for businesses - making sure employee dynamics and wellness needs are addressed - and currently owns and runs a private practice with her husband who is also a licensed clinical counselor. She specializes in treating trauma, sexual and relationship issues.

Connect with Stephanie:

Website: https://restorebehavioral.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/restore.behavioral.health/

If you listened to this podcast and are up for it, I'd truly appreciate a review & any feedback on Apple Podcasts. At a minimum, it is a chance for me to connect with you, at a medium, your feedback could convince just the right person to give Good Explanations a listen (or avoid it), and at a maximum, it can help influence the future, harder-to-get guests to join us for a discussion on Life.

Connect with Christian:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/goodexplanations

Website: https://christianscorner.org

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Chrisalfaro1017

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrisalfaro17/

Newsletter: https://christianscorner.substack.com/p/growing-up