Spend a few minutes learning about and from local Raleigh, NC business owners, thought leaders, entrepreneurs and all around good people.   On Episode 1 Patrick Moen shares his story on life during the CoronaVirus lock down, building a consulting business and hosting a super cool and impactful podcast called 'Just a Recording.'

“Running is about finding your inner peace, and so is a life well lived.” Dean Karnazes

I’ve known today’s guest for a number of years. In my past life, before real estate and before network marketing I was in the bar business. I was managing bars. Big, loud, crazy party bars surrounded by booze and bad decisions. And although the time to leave that lifestyle came and I don’t regret it at all, I do miss the relationships that I made then. There are a lot of great people I worked with on a regular basis back then and Melissa was one of them. Melissa Danehey is a native North Carolinian whose love for the California coast drew her there in 2014. She has her Masters in Nutrition  and Currently is the Nutrition and Children’s Program Manager at the Food Bank Coalition of San Luis Obispo where she Develops and implements community health education activities and related general health education programs for individuals and groups. In her spare time, Melissa runs trails, lots and lots of trails. LIke lots of trails. Seriously yo. Alot.  She competes in ultra marathons. Her ‘no-quit’ attitude has earned her 18 ultra marathon finishes, including 10 podium finishes and 2 overall wins. She Has placed second in 2 24 hour races and FIRST in the Born to run 100 miler AND the 2019 Angeles Crest 100 mile race.. She’s also an entrepreneur as the founder and owner of Summit Natural Skin Care, a skincare and hygiene solution for the outdoor adventurer. She loves to play piano, and spend time with her daughter and 2 dogs. She is also a foster/resource parent and a Big Sister. She’s a fantastic person with a huge heart and today, she opens that huge heart up about running, relationships, divorce and being a single mom.

Tag me @ChuckBelden and #BuildItBetterPodcast in your social posts this week sharing your favorite parts of this episode and if you haven’t already subscribed to the podcast please do. I would love to hear what you think about it by asking you to rate and review the episodes. 

I’m excited you’re here for this one…ready...set….go

Marie Montessori said “The work of education is divided between the teacher and the environment.” It's clear to me that both play an integral role in our development and as I look back over my life I can notice where the environment and my settings contributed as much if not more to my growth. Like now. Literally like right now. Like this podcast environment, its changing me for the better. And today’s guest, Greg Pearlman has totally changed me for the better. Greg believes in the power of the environment and focusing our mindset on the power of learning opportunities, not failures because they are different and how you package them matters. Greg is the Chief Success Officer at a super cool education startup called Betabox and he believes hands-on, experiential learning is the missing ingredient required to prepare students for the complex, uncertain future before us all. He is on a mission to bring technology to more students in an inclusive and accessible way which focuses on the environment in a new and modern way. And he’s also on a mission to continually improve himself and his environment by mindfully navigating his personal connections and relationships. And on this episode, in THIS environment, with me as the ready student, Greg, the teacher, appeared. Make sure you stay til the end to hear the action item I’m challenging you with. It’s a good one.

If you’ve listened to any of my first 9 episodes you’ve likely heard me reference a friend’s birthday party I was invited to attend last summer. This wasn’t your typical birthday party. At least, it wasn’t my typical birthday party. This was a very close friend of mine named Kristian AKA @cash_here our featured guest on episode 2, who I consider a great friend, a mentor, a brother and somebody I really admire. He didn’t want a typical birthday so he invited about 25 guys he considers inspiring and thought leaders to a conversation because he thought it might springboard into some other new relationships. And he was right! I met @freddyvaloy there, our episode 8 guest and I met @dougstewart919 there, today’s guest. Doug literally grew up in business. From a very young age he either spent his days working in the family furniture business or he was shooting jumpers to avoid working in the family furniture business. Half the people in his life told him he wouldn’t amount to much because he had trouble in school and the other half told him the sky was the limit because he could play basketball. That’s a tough spot to be in as a kid.Who’s right? Who’s wrong? I guess the answer is, who do you believe is right? Doug chose to believe the half that told him basketball was the answer so he put most of his efforts there. Basketball got him to college but once there, he struggled. It wasn’t until he met an advisor, somebody that got him to take a real good look at himself and what he was capable of, that things got better for him. And since then, he’s dedicated his life to giving others the same gift as a certified dale carnegie instructor. He’s been a business owner, a podcast host, a TEDx speaker, he’s a loving father and husband, a compassionate friend and the kind of guy you want to get to know and hang out with because he just makes you feel like you can realize your best self. And like Kobe said, He inspires you to be great in whatever you want to do.

Doug is about to deliver the goods. I’m excited you’re here with us...

Give it a listen and let us know what you think.

I read a quote by Winston Churchill once that said “we make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.“ And I can’t stop thinking about how true that is but I’ll take it a little further and say that yes, we make a living by what we get but we could make an even better living by giving more. Giving and serving others doesn’t just affect our life independent of what we do for a living. They are connected. They are the same thing. You can’t separate the two and say I’ll give more in my personal life so I build a life but when it comes to work, I’m going to be selfish AF and think that philosophy will work at all. You’re nuts if you think that way. This conversation is with Tina Konidaris. A few months ago I was introduced to Tina a mortgage lender that some of my colleagues had done business with in the past. In just a matter of a few seconds I instantly knew there was something different about her and something special. So much so that I reached back out after our first encounter and asked her to be a guest on the podcast and I knew there was something magic she could share with all of us. Tina came from a humble upbringing in a small town in North Carolina and moved all the way to division president of Dash home loans, a mortgage lending company in Raleigh North Carolina. The road was bumpy, challenging and filled with hard work and determination. It wasn’t handed to her by any stretch of the imagination. And on today’s podcast she opens up about all of it. You don’t want to miss this episode.

Things are going to get hard when you’re working to improve your life. There’s no doubt about it. How you react determines everything.

This conversation is a standup comic’s guide to authenticity vulnerability and honesty. And i’m not sure if there’s a better person to talk to about authenticity and vulnerability and a little mental health, than a standup comedian. A guy who chooses to stand all alone in front of a group of strangers, often hundreds of them, with just a microphone and try to make them laugh. I mean, how much more vulnerable can you get? This conversation is with Freddy Valoy a North Carolina comedian on his take all things relationships, authenticity, honesty, comedy, masculinity and more. Check it out, I promise it won’t disappoint.

What does living your best life look like? Would you have the courage at “mid-life” to completely change gears and chase your dream? Brett did and in this episode you’ll learn how he would personally coach you to do the same.

This is a live recording of a goal setting session I did for a number of real estate agent with the President of Hunter Rowe, Kristie Brose. Although this is specific to real estate agents, I think a lot of this information can translate to other businesses. On this episode we talk about: goal setting, networking, building relationships and more. Give it a listen and please share your feedback.

Are you living your best and most authentic life? Or are you lying to yourself and telling yourself a narrative to soften the blow of hard times Instead of facing the truth? I am. Yikes. We are switching things up a bit in today’s episode and flipping the script. I’m going from host to guest. And today’s host is going to really dive in deeper on a number of uncomfortable issues and questions that all of us should ask ourselves regularly. Join us on this one of a kind episode as Brook Belden pulls back the curtain I’ve been hiding behind.