Looking Forward®: It's All About Opportunities!

Hi everyone. Today we’ll again discuss something that directly affects a significant percentage of the estimated 1.2 BILLION people around the world who have disabilities. If you are not one of these individuals, odds are they are one of your family members or friends.

I’m speaking about those who have “invisible” disabilities. In other words, they don’t use an assistive device, like a cane or wheelchair. This means that most of us have no idea of the challenges these people deal with day after day, not even some of their own family members.

In Part of 1 of this two-part series, we learned about those with invisible disabilities, the challenges they face, the improvements that are being made on their behalf, and about an organization that is working tirelessly to advocate for them.

In Part 2 of this series, we’ll cover how things have evolved over the past couple of decades for those with invisible disabilities, COVID’s impact, what the future might look like, what opportunities this may present, and more.

To help us with all this, we’re again going to speak with an expert on this topic. He’s Wayne Connell. Wayne Connell is president and CEO of the Invisible Disabilities® Association. Wayne founded IDA in 1996 out of the desire to educate friends and family about his wife, Sherri's debilitating illness. Soon afterwards, people around the globe began sending emails sharing how IDA had changed their relationships with their loved ones. Wayne’s background fueled his passion for helping people living with illness, pain and disability. His mission and efforts helped quickly launch IDA into a world-wide outreach for millions living daily with invisible disabilities. These days, Wayne spends most of his evenings, weekends, vacations and holidays, volunteering for IDA.

During daytime hours, Wayne is focused on managing the Telecom Infrastructure Team for Dish Network and Sling TV. He is also Founder and President of the DISH Disability Advocates Network, a DISH employee resource group. He loves sharing and blogging about the great work of IDA and advocating on behalf of all people living daily with illness, pain and disability. Wayne has been given the opportunity to speak at many organizations and businesses over the years about invisible disabilities as well as share via local and national TV and radio.

Wayne is also co-author of the book, "But You LOOK Good: How to Encourage and Understand People Living with Illness and Pain."

If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to tell your family, friends, and other members of YOUR network about it… and encourage them to listen to it, too.

Looking Forward is THE podcast about global trends. opportunities, and the future, and how YOU might capitalize on those: Think... jobs, careers, business start-ups, ventures, investments, life enrichment. Guests are experts in their field, and most are C-suite executives, household names, authors, and/or from prestigious universities or similar organizations.

Looking Forward is a great source for media outlets, publishers, etc. to include as part of their content. We can customize our content for YOUR target audience. TAPinto.net, an online newspaper franchise, is already doing that!

Looking Forward also offers a smart and affordable way for advertisers to promote their products or services, especially given its positive spin and informative, entertaining, and wholesome content.

For more information, or to request topics, speakers, or to have Jeff as a guest on your show, please contact www.jeff-ostroff.com

What's a former Dow Jones and Wall St. Journal pro have to say about the newspaper industry, how it's evolved, where it is now, where it may be headed, and what opportunities that portends? 

To find out, listen to my guest expert, Ken Herts, Chief Operating Officer of the Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Ken has spent more than 30 years in the news business... so he should know about these things! Hear Ken speak about what organizations in the U.S. and around the world to maintain or grow their readership.  Find out the keys to the U.S.-based national newspapers' success in dealing with a rapidly changing newspaper industry. And, pay close attention to where Ken says there are OPPORTUNITIES to be found for those having the right set of skills in today's marketplace, including entrepreneurs.

To hear this and more, please tune in to this week's episode. If you enjoy this episode, please give it and Looking Forward a positive review. Also, be sure to tell your family, friends, and other members of YOUR network about it… and encourage them to listen to it, too.

Looking Forward is THE podcast about global trends. opportunities, and the future, and how YOU might capitalize on those: Think... jobs, careers, business start-ups, ventures, investments, life enrichment. Guests are experts in their field, and most are C-suite executives, household names, authors, and/or from prestigious universities or similar organizations.

Looking Forward provides informative, engaging, and trendy content for media outlets, publishers, etc. to distribute to their audiences. We can customize our content for YOUR target audience. Some, such as TAPinto.net, are already doing that!

Looking Forward also offers a smart and affordable way for advertisers to promote their products or services, especially given its positive spin and wholesome content.

For more information about any of this, and to request topics, speakers, or have Jeff as a guest on your show, please contact www.jeff-ostroff.com Thanks!

Hi everyone. Over 60 million adults in the U.S. and many millions more around the world are dealing with the challenges of caring for an older adult. Are you? Some of these people are seniors themselves, who also must care for their grandchildren! The number of caregivers is GROWING rapidly and includes both men and women and even members of the Millennial generation. Sadly, most governments and businesses, especially in the United States are not addressing this gigantic TREND. The recent U.S. Census didn't even ask a question about this.

How has COVID-19 affected the caregiving trend? What can be done by policymakers to ease the caregiver challenge? What tips can be offered to you, if you are or will become a caregiver? And, what OPPORTUNITIES might exist to assist the enormous group of caregivers for those seeking jobs, careers, business endeavors, or investments?

Listen as my guest expert, Dr. Cheryl Woodson, retired geriatrician, caregiver, and the author of two books about caregiving discusses these and related topics on this episode of Looking Forward.

To hear this and more, please tune in to this week's episode. If you enjoy this episode, please give it and Looking Forward a positive review. Also, be sure to tell your family, friends, and other members of YOUR network about it… and encourage them to listen to it, too.

Looking Forward is THE podcast about global trends. opportunities, and the future, and how YOU might capitalize on those: Think... jobs, careers, business start-ups, ventures, investments, life enrichment. Guests are experts in their field, and most are C-suite executives, household names, authors, and/or from prestigious universities or similar organizations.

Looking Forward provides informative, engaging, and trendy content for media outlets, publishers, etc. to distribute to their audiences. We can customize our content for YOUR target audience. Some, such as TAPinto.net, are already doing that!

Looking Forward also offers a smart and affordable way for advertisers to promote their products or services, especially given its positive spin and wholesome content.

For more information about any of this, and to request topics, speakers, or have Jeff as a guest on your show, please contact www.jeff-ostroff.com Thanks!

Hi everyone. Today we’ll be discussing something that directly affects a significant percentage of the estimated 1.2 BILLION people around the world who have disabilities. ff you are not one of these individuals, odds are they are one of your family members or friends.

I’m speaking about those who have “invisible” disabilities. In other words, they don’t use an assistive device, like a cane or wheelchair. This means that most of us have no idea of the challenges these people deal with day after day, not even some of their own family members.

In Part of 1 of this two-part series, we’re going to learn more about those with invisible disabilities, the challenges they face, the improvements that are being made on their behalf, and about an organization that is working tirelessly to advocate for them.

In Part 2, we’ll cover such things as how things have evolved over the past couple of decades for those with invisible disabilities, COVID’s impact, what the future might look like, what opportunities this may present, and more.

To help us with all this, we’re going to speak with an expert on this topic. He’s Wayne Connell. Wayne Connell is president and CEO of the Invisible Disabilities® Association. Wayne founded IDA in 1996 out of the desire to educate friends and family about his wife, Sherri’s debilitating illness. Soon afterwards, people around the globe began sending emails sharing how IDA had changed their relationships with their loved ones. 

Wayne’s background fueled his passion for helping people living with illness, pain and disability. His mission and efforts helped quickly launch IDA into a world-wide outreach for millions living daily with invisible disabilities. These days, Wayne spends most of his evenings, weekends, vacations and holidays, volunteering for IDA.

During daytime hours, Wayne is focused on managing the Telecom Infrastructure Team for Dish Network and Sling TV. He is also Founder and President of the DISH Disability Advocates Network, a DISH employee resource group. He loves sharing and blogging about the great work of IDA and advocating on behalf of all people living daily with illness, pain and disability. Wayne has been given the opportunity to speak at many organizations and businesses over the years about invisible disabilities as well as share via local and national TV and radio.

Wayne is also co-author of the book, “But You LOOK Good, How to Encourage and Understand People Living with Illness and Pain.”

If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to tell your family, friends, and other members of YOUR network about it… and encourage them to listen to it, too.

Looking Forward is THE podcast about global trends. opportunities, and the future, and how YOU might capitalize on those: Think... jobs, careers, business start-ups, ventures, investments, life enrichment. Guests are experts in their field, and most are C-suite executives, household names, authors, and/or from prestigious universities or similar organizations.

Looking Forward is a great source for media outlets, publishers, etc. to include as part of their content. We can customize our content for YOUR target audience. Some, such as TAPinto.net, are already doing that! And we are happy to announce that soon InternetFM Radio Network will also become one of our content distributors.

Looking Forward also offers a smart and affordable way for advertisers to promote their products or services, especially given its positive spin and informative, entertaining, and wholesome content.

For more information, or to request topics, speakers, or to have Jeff as a guest on your show, please contact www.jeff-ostroff.com

And that's just in the United States!

Let's hear what our guest expert, Zeke Minaya, has to say about that. Zeke should know. He's the editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer's "Future of Work" project. What impact is the dramatic shift to remote work having on workers, our cities and their business districts, and employers? How are or will some of the biggest companies respond to this gigantic trend? What are the challenges and implications of all of this? And, maybe most importantly, where does Zeke think OPPORTUNITIES exist for workers and businesses living in this brave new world of the 2020's? 

To hear this and more, please tune in to this week's episode. If you enjoy this episode, please give it and Looking Forward a positive review. Also, be sure to tell your family, friends, and other members of YOUR network about it… and encourage them to listen to it, too.

Looking Forward is THE podcast about global trends. opportunities, and the future, and how YOU might capitalize on those: Think... jobs, careers, business start-ups, ventures, investments, life enrichment. Guests are experts in their field, and most are C-suite executives, household names, authors, and/or from prestigious universities or similar organizations.

Looking Forward provides informative, engaging, and trendy content for media outlets, publishers, etc. to distribute to their audiences. We can customize our content for YOUR target audience. Some, such as TAPinto.net, are already doing that!

Looking Forward also offers a smart and affordable way for advertisers to promote their products or services, especially given its positive spin and wholesome content.

For more information about any of this, and to request topics, speakers, or have Jeff as a guest on your show, please contact www.jeff-ostroff.com Thanks!

Hi everyone. In Part 1 of this two-part series, we spoke about how people’s religious affiliations have evolved over the past few decades, which religions are growing in numbers, and why that may be.

In Part 2 of this two-part series, we’re going to take a look at such things as what impact COVID has had on people’s religious beliefs, what the future religious makeup of the world might look like, what opportunities that might offer, and more, including some research about how people of different religions perceive those of other faiths.

To help us with all this, we’re going to continue our discussion with outstanding expert in the study of global religions, Dr. Conrad Hackett.

Conrad Hackett is associate director of research and senior demographer at the Pew Research Center. His expertise is in international religious demography, the sociology of religion, and how religion relates to characteristics such as gender, fertility and education.

Dr. Hackett received his doctorate from Princeton University’s Department of Sociology and Office of Population Research and was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the University of Texas at Austin’s Population Research Center. He also earned two graduate degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary.

Conrad is the author of The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050, Religion and Education Around the World, The Global Religious Landscape, The Gender Gap in Religion Around the World, Global Christianity, The Global Catholic Population and various other studies of religious demography. He frequently presents demographic research at scholarly conferences in the United States and abroad. And he’s also discussed global religion with numerous media outlets, including BBC, CNN, NPR, MSNBC, the Financial Times, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

If you enjoy this episode, please give it and Looking Forward a positive review. Also, be sure to tell your family, friends, and other members of YOUR network about it… and encourage them to listen to it, too.

Looking Forward is THE podcast about global trends. opportunities, and the future, and how YOU might capitalize on those: Think... jobs, careers, business start-ups, ventures, investments, life enrichment. Guests are experts in their field, and most are C-suite executives, household names, authors, and/or from prestigious universities or similar organizations.

Looking Forward provides informative, engaging, and trendy content for media outlets, publishers, etc. to distribute to their audiences. We can customize our content for YOUR target audience. Some, such as TAPinto.net, are already doing that!

Looking Forward also offers a smart and affordable way for advertisers to promote their products or services, especially given its positive spin and wholesome content.

For more information about any of this, and to request topics, speakers, or have Jeff as a guest on your show, please contact www.jeff-ostroff.com Thanks!

Hi everyone. What's a MEGATREND that's having a profound impact on workers, businesses, and economies around the world... whether in developed or less-developed countries. It's FREELANCING!!

Listen as my expert guest, respected and renowned economist, Dr. Adam Ozimek, chief economist at UPWORK, discusses this super trend.

Hear Adam speak about how freelancing has evolved pre-COVID and during COVID, and how things may shake out post-COVID. Within this context, Adam also offers some great insights on whether or not it makes sense to go to college these days. Perhaps most importantly, hear what he says are the OPPORTUNITIES this trend offers clients, freelancers, countries, and their economies for years to come! . 

Looking Forward is THE podcast about global TRENDS, OPPORTUNITIES, and the FUTURE, and how YOU might capitalize on those: THINK.. jobs, careers, business start-ups, ventures, investments, life enrichment. Guests are experts in their field, and many are senior executives, household names, authors, and/or from prestigious universities or similar organizations.

Looking Forward is a great source for media outlets, publishers, etc. to include as part of their content. We can customize our content for YOUR target audience. Some, such as TAPinto.net, are already doing that!

Looking Forward also offers a smart and affordable way for advertisers to promote their products or services, especially given its positive spin and informative, entertaining, and wholesome content.

For more information, or to request topics, speakers, or to have Jeff as a guest on your show, please contact www.jeff-ostroff.com

Hi everyone. In Part 1 of this two-part series, we’re going to speak about how people’s religious affiliations have evolved over the past few decades, which religions are growing in numbers, and why that may be. We’re going to look at religion almost everywhere in the world.

To help us sort this all out, we’ve brought on an outstanding expert in the study of global religions, Conrad Hackett.

Conrad Hackett, Ph.D., is associate director of research and senior demographer at the Pew Research Center. His expertise is in international religious demography, the sociology of religion, and how religion relates to characteristics such as gender, fertility and education.

Dr. Hackett received his doctorate from Princeton University’s Department of Sociology and Office of Population Research and was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the University of Texas at Austin’s Population Research Center. He also earned two graduate degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary.

Conrad is the author of The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050, Religion and Education Around the World, The Global Religious Landscape, The Gender Gap in Religion Around the World, Global Christianity, The Global Catholic Population and various other studies of religious demography. He frequently presents demographic research at scholarly conferences in the United States and abroad. And he’s also discussed global religion with numerous media outlets, including BBC, CNN, NPR, MSNBC, the Financial Times, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to tell your family, friends, and other members of YOUR network about it… and encourage them to listen to it, too.

Looking Forward is THE podcast about global trends. opportunities, and the future, and how YOU might capitalize on those: Think... jobs, careers, business start-ups, ventures, investments, life enrichment. Guests are experts in their field, and most are C-suite executives, household names, authors, and/or from prestigious universities or similar organizations.

Looking Forward is a great source for media outlets, publishers, etc. to include as part of their content. We can customize our content for YOUR target audience. Some, such as TAPinto.net, are already doing that!

Looking Forward also offers a smart and affordable way for advertisers to promote their products or services, especially given its positive spin and informative, entertaining, and wholesome content.

For more information, or to request topics, speakers, or to have Jeff as a guest on your show, please contact www.jeff-ostroff.com

Where you can find that combination? How about in functional medicine! Functional medicine, also known as lifestyle medicine, has been steadily gaining momentum over the past few decades. In fact, it's now being practiced in 36 countries around the world! Functional medicine is a different way to provide medical care that focuses on diagnosing and treating patients individually and holistically; e.g., considering not only what's bothering them now, but such things as their genetic makeup and environment, and their eating, sleeping, exercise, and stress management patterns. In other words, it's not just treating the symptoms of your condition.

To learn much more about functional medicine trends, areas of GREAT OPPORTUNITY, and its future, please join me on Looking Forward's episode #46 as I speak with my guest expert, Dr. Patricia Boulogne. Known as "Dr. Pat," Dr. Pat also provides some fantastic tips on how to maximize your health, get the most of our your doctor's visits, and how to find a functional medicine practitioner. Hey, she should know. She's a functional medicine practitioner, coach, chiropractor, and speaker, and has helped thousands of patients over the past 35 years. She's also the author of the highly rated book: "Why... Are You Sick, Fat, and Tired?" You can learn more Dr. Pat and her upcoming "Be Stronger Than Medicine" series via her website, www.healthnetwork.com, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook. Her hashtag is #DontForgetYourHEALTH

Hi everyone.

In this episode, Episode # 64 of Looking Forward, we ’re going to focus on the future and the many OPPORTUNITIES offered by the booming pet industry, including for entrepreneurs and investors. We'll also hear some really funny anecdotes about what crazy things can happen if you work in a pet store. (Hello, pythons and guinea pigs!)

In Part 1 of this two-part series, we discussed several topics, including how the pet industry has changed over the years, how big the industry is and who owns pets, what trends we’re seeing in the industry now in both the U.S. and elsewhere around the world, and what impact COVID-19 has had on all of this. We also got a few tips about pet adoption and begin to look at what the future of the pet industry may look like.

In Part 2, I'm again conversing with an outstanding expert, a man who’s spent 55 years working in the pet industry! He’s Phil Cooper. With experience at all levels of the pet industry, Phil Cooper has done it all. He’s been a retailer and a multi-unit store operator. He had the very first pet superstore in the USA. He’s been part owner of an 80-year-old pet distribution company in Australia, and he was also the highest volume pet product rep in the United States for many years.

Phil has done everything from importing containers to opening United States’ offices for overseas firms. He has traveled the world buying and selling pet products. And he has specialized in building small pet product companies into large firms.

Currently, Phil owns and operates petindustryexpert.com, which offers a variety of business services to pet companies both small and large. His business is very active in licensing new pet items, launching new pet companies, consulting to major consulting firms, selling to national accounts, rescuing pet firms, and rebuilding old brands.

If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to tell your family, friends, and other members of YOUR network about it… and encourage them to listen to it, too.

Looking Forward is THE podcast about global trends. opportunities, and the future, and how YOU might capitalize on those: Think... jobs, careers, business start-ups, ventures, investments, life enrichment. Guests are experts in their field, and most are C-suite executives, household names, authors, and/or from prestigious universities or similar organizations.

Looking Forward is a great source for media outlets, publishers, etc. to include as part of their content. We can customize our content for YOUR target audience. Some, such as TAPinto.net, are already doing that! And we are happy to announce that soon InternetFM Radio Network will also become one of our content distributors.

Looking Forward also offers a smart and affordable way for advertisers to promote their products or services, especially given its positive spin and informative, entertaining, and wholesome content.

For more information, or to request topics, speakers, or to have Jeff as a guest on your show, please contact www.jeff-ostroff.com