Play Your Position

Debbie Johnston's motto is, "If I have touched one life, it was worth the journey." And let me tell you -- she has touched many. November is National Adoption Month and among the many pursuits Debbie has engaged in over the years, advocating for children of all ages to find permanent homes is at the top of her list.

Over the span of her successful careers, she has been recognized as the Entrepreneur of Richmond, Virginia, Philanthropist of the Year, and Woman on the Move. As founder and President of Care Advantage, Nurse Advantage, and All About Care, she has created a dynamic compassionate care company that is devoted to giving back to the community. Her former companies employ approximately 3,000 health care professionals in central Virginia and surrounding areas. Debbie's journey to the top did not start off all glitz and glam though. In fact, she had a very humble start. Debbie grew up in a small town with her biological mother's sister and her husband who adopted Debbie at a young age. She was raised on a farm with four younger sisters and one brother, working hard with farm-life chores, too busy and loved to realize her actual scarcity."Originally I wanted to be a secretary like my mom, but after considerable coaxing from my dad, I decided to go into nursing," Debbie says. "My dad told me that nursing would always afford me a job in good times and bad." Somehow, her parents scraped up the three-year tuition for Debbie to attend the Johnston-Willis School of Nursing.Following nursing school, she decided to work in the operating room where she learned a lot in a short amount of time. In her book, The School of Heart Knocks, she tells the story of watching a 14-year-old girl receive her last rites in the emergency room. It was then that she decided to become a recovery room nurse, in order to lessen the close interaction with patients and guard against such heartache. "I began to see people being discharged quicker and sicker, which prompted my curiosity about what was happening to patients once they were sent home. It was this curiosity that led me into my career of home care."Debbie sought and accepted an offer as a salesperson for a new national home health company in the area. After one year, she took the idea of home health care to a large hospital conglomerate and became the administrator of the division. However, the chief hospital administrator spun the home health division out on its own and decided to sell it. Debbie then received a push from a friend and started her own health care company. Care Advantage, Inc. was born out of a need to help people once discharged home. This has naturally evolved from helping patients leave the hospital to holding their hand and making their last few hours the best possible. Today, Debbie is the sole owner and president of Care Advantage, Inc., which has become a leading company for personal and companion home healthcare, with 17 offices and affiliates throughout Virginia. "I believe that one of the best things about growing a financially successful company is having the ability to give to others. We have given over a million dollars to organizations all over the community. I also started 'Eunice's Circle of Friends,' which is a social group for Widows and Widowers, and those individuals who have lost a loved one." In 2014, Governor Terry McAuliffe appointed Debbie to the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority and as the Adoption Champion for the state of Virginia and these days, she spends a lot of her time helping match deserving kids with deserving parents.

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Debbie Johnston’s motto is, “If I have touched one life, it was worth the journey.” And let me tell you -- she has touched many. November is National Adoption Month and among the many pursuits Debbie has engaged in over the years, advocating for children of all ages to find permanent homes is at the top of her list.

Over the span of her successful careers, she has been recognized as the Entrepreneur of Richmond, Virginia, Philanthropist of the Year, and Woman on the Move. As founder and President of Care Advantage, Nurse Advantage, and All About Care, she has created a dynamic compassionate care company that is devoted to giving back to the community. Her former companies employ approximately 3,000 health care professionals in central Virginia and surrounding areas. Debbie's journey to the top did not start off all glitz and glam though. In fact, she had a very humble start. Debbie grew up in a small town with her biological mother's sister and her husband who adopted Debbie at a young age. She was raised on a farm with four younger sisters and one brother, working hard with farm-life chores, too busy and loved to realize her actual scarcity.

"Originally I wanted to be a secretary like my mom, but after considerable coaxing from my dad, I decided to go into nursing,” Debbie says. “My dad told me that nursing would always afford me a job in good times and bad." Somehow, her parents scraped up the three-year tuition for Debbie to attend the Johnston-Willis School of Nursing.

Following nursing school, she decided to work in the operating room where she learned a lot in a short amount of time. In her book, The School of Heart Knocks, she tells the story of watching a 14-year-old girl receive her last rites in the emergency room. It was then that she decided to become a recovery room nurse, in order to lessen the close interaction with patients and guard against such heartache. "I began to see people being discharged quicker and sicker, which prompted my curiosity about what was happening to patients once they were sent home. It was this curiosity that led me into my career of home care."

Debbie sought and accepted an offer as a salesperson for a new national home health company in the area. After one year, she took the idea of home health care to a large hospital conglomerate and became the administrator of the division. However, the chief hospital administrator spun the home health division out on its own and decided to sell it. Debbie then received a push from a friend and started her own health care company. Care Advantage, Inc. was born out of a need to help people once discharged home. This has naturally evolved from helping patients leave the hospital to holding their hand and making their last few hours the best possible.

Today, Debbie is the sole owner and president of Care Advantage, Inc., which has become a leading company for personal and companion home healthcare, with 17 offices and affiliates throughout Virginia. "I believe that one of the best things about growing a financially successful company is having the ability to give to others. We have given over a million dollars to organizations all over the community. I also started ‘Eunice's Circle of Friends,’ which is a social group for Widows and Widowers, and those individuals who have lost a loved one." In 2014, Governor Terry McAuliffe appointed Debbie to the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority and as the Adoption Champion for the state of Virginia and these days, she spends a lot of her time helping match deserving kids with deserving parents.

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Love is missing from the workplace. That's what today's PYP MVP believes. "If you can satisfy people's emotional needs, you can produce business results you never thought possible," says Cort Dial. He would know. Cort has been working as an executive coach for several decades and has seen every facet of human behavior you could imagine. His work has taken him to some of the toughest places on earth, from oil rigs off the coast of Texas to the deserts of the Middle East and everything in between. In fact, over the last 30 years in a variety of environments ranging from corporate skyscrapers to South American jungles, he has honed his signature method of leadership development called All-In Performance Transformation. With it, he trains and certifies business executives and rising leaders at his Heretics to Heroes Leadership Mastery Summits held throughout the year in Austin, Texas. Despite all the advances in technology we've experienced over the last ten years, Cort is adamant that we human beings are still the same: everyone just wants to feel a sense of belonging. Everyone wants to play a big game. Everyone wants to make a contribution in one fashion or another. "The world is lacking great leadership," he says. But has has faith that, with a combination of the right training, some time and patience, things can change for the better. "I'm really good at asking the tough questions no one else is willing to ask," Cort says. He believes that asking the hard questions is one of the keys to developing great leaders and that it takes a special form of leader to inspire a performance transformation within organizations. Cort calls this new breed of 21st-century hero the All-In™ Leader. He explores the roots and results of his unique All-In Leadership philosophy in his Amazon Top 10 book, Heretics to Heroes: A Memoir on Modern Leadership, named the Best Business Book of 2016 by Canada's Globe and Mail. Cort lives in Austin, Texas with his wife and best friend Julie of more than 38 years. He has a son and a daughter and two grandsons named Max and Jake. Oh, and he's a big Texas Longhorns fan. While it's been a tough road for the Longhorns recently, they're having a decent season this year. "As long as we beat Oklahoma, us fans are okay," he chuckles.

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Love is missing from the workplace. That’s what today’s PYP MVP believes. “If you can satisfy people’s emotional needs, you can produce business results you never thought possible,” says Cort Dial. He would know. Cort has been working as an executive coach for several decades and has seen every facet of human behavior you could imagine. His work has taken him to some of the toughest places on earth, from oil rigs off the coast of Texas to the deserts of the Middle East and everything in between. In fact, over the last 30 years in a variety of environments ranging from corporate skyscrapers to South American jungles, he has honed his signature method of leadership development called All-In Performance Transformation. With it, he trains and certifies business executives and rising leaders at his Heretics to Heroes Leadership Mastery Summits held throughout the year in Austin, Texas. Despite all the advances in technology we’ve experienced over the last ten years, Cort is adamant that we human beings are still the same: everyone just wants to feel a sense of belonging. Everyone wants to play a big game. Everyone wants to make a contribution in one fashion or another. “The world is lacking great leadership,” he says. But has has faith that, with a combination of the right training, some time and patience, things can change for the better. “I’m really good at asking the tough questions no one else is willing to ask,” Cort says. He believes that asking the hard questions is one of the keys to developing great leaders and that it takes a special form of leader to inspire a performance transformation within organizations. Cort calls this new breed of 21st-century hero the All-In™ Leader. He explores the roots and results of his unique All-In Leadership philosophy in his Amazon Top 10 book, Heretics to Heroes: A Memoir on Modern Leadership, named the Best Business Book of 2016 by Canada’s Globe and Mail. Cort lives in Austin, Texas with his wife and best friend Julie of more than 38 years. He has a son and a daughter and two grandsons named Max and Jake. Oh, and he’s a big Texas Longhorns fan. While it’s been a tough road for the Longhorns recently, they’re having a decent season this year. “As long as we beat Oklahoma, us fans are okay,” he chuckles.

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Thanks to PYP MVP Will Cuddy from Show #106, I had the honor of talking to Noah Schultz this week. Noah is currently on tour across the United States promoting the documentary about his life called Perception: From Prison to Purpose. We had a fantastic conversation and I was moved by his story.

Noah Schultz is a poet and a writer who was incarcerated at the age of 17 under Oregon's Measure 11. During his time in custody, he was introduced to creative writing, and has since transformed his worldview. While in prison, he earned an Associate's Degree and two Bachelor's Degrees, and even created and taught a poetry curriculum to other inmates. He is an aspiring entrepreneur interested in poverty, human trafficking and environmental issues and is currently in the process of launching his own fashion line, Forgotten Culture Clothing, with his best friend.

Noah's favorite team is the Portland Timbers and he brings a lot of positive energy to every audience he serves, and Team PYP, we are no different. Assisting others in finding their inner greatness is why he wakes up in the morning and he loves to encourage people to say to themselves, "I am qualified!"

You can buy a copy of his poetry book "Morse Code Kisses" on Amazon here.

One of Noah's favorite things to say about sports is: "It's not just a game...it's a language that connects the world to you and me."

We love that, too!

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Thanks to PYP MVP Will Cuddy from Show #106, I had the honor of talking to Noah Schultz this week. Noah is currently on tour across the United States promoting the documentary about his life called Perception: From Prison to Purpose. We had a fantastic conversation and I was moved by his story.

Noah Schultz is a poet and a writer who was incarcerated at the age of 17 under Oregon’s Measure 11. During his time in custody, he was introduced to creative writing, and has since transformed his worldview. While in prison, he earned an Associate’s Degree and two Bachelor’s Degrees, and even created and taught a poetry curriculum to other inmates. He is an aspiring entrepreneur interested in poverty, human trafficking and environmental issues and is currently in the process of launching his own fashion line, Forgotten Culture Clothing, with his best friend.

Noah’s favorite team is the Portland Timbers and he brings a lot of positive energy to every audience he serves, and Team PYP, we are no different. Assisting others in finding their inner greatness is why he wakes up in the morning and he loves to encourage people to say to themselves, “I am qualified!”

You can buy a copy of his poetry book “Morse Code Kisses” on Amazon here.

One of Noah’s favorite things to say about sports is: “It’s not just a game...it’s a language that connects the world to you and me.”

We love that, too!

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Gustavo Serbia is the Corporate Director of Human Resources for Crescent Hotels & Resorts and refers to himself as an HR non-HR guy. He is also the founder of Stretch the String, a personal development movement dedicated to helping fine tune the most important instrument of your career: YOU! Gustavo has worked in hospitality, entertainment, with airlines and universities. His work has taken him around the world including places like Mexico, Hong Kong, and Europe. Fully bilingual, Gustavo speaks both English and Spanish and on a personal note, he loves baseball, has a collection of M&M branded items and considers himself a tech nerd.

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Gustavo Serbia is the Corporate Director of Human Resources for Crescent Hotels & Resorts and refers to himself as an HR non-HR guy. He is also the founder of Stretch the String, a personal development movement dedicated to helping fine tune the most important instrument of your career: YOU! Gustavo has worked in hospitality, entertainment, with airlines and universities. His work has taken him around the world including places like Mexico, Hong Kong, and Europe. Fully bilingual, Gustavo speaks both English and Spanish and on a personal note, he loves baseball, has a collection of M&M branded items and considers himself a tech nerd.

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Jake Carlson is a business leader, an inspirational speaker, and a 9-5 dropout. After 11 years as a tax attorney, he chose "different". Taking his three kids out of school for the adventure of a lifetime, the family spent a year living in 12 countries from Bagan, Myanmar to Paris, France, overcoming robbery, red-eye flights and Haggis while learning to love the rich cultures of the world. All of which he expected. What he didn't expect was the journey of Leadership this decision would create. From the high-rises of London to the nipa huts of Malaysia, the need for strong leadership is everywhere. But where are the leaders? Jake is on a mission to help Elite Achievers become leaders by mastering the CIA of Influence: Conviction, Irresistibility & Accountability. Join us today for a lively conversation full of exciting adventure stories and insights on how to become a better leader!

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Jake Carlson is a business leader, an inspirational speaker, and a 9-5 dropout. After 11 years as a tax attorney, he chose “different”. Taking his three kids out of school for the adventure of a lifetime, the family spent a year living in 12 countries from Bagan, Myanmar to Paris, France, overcoming robbery, red-eye flights and Haggis while learning to love the rich cultures of the world. All of which he expected. What he didn’t expect was the journey of Leadership this decision would create. From the high-rises of London to the nipa huts of Malaysia, the need for strong leadership is everywhere. But where are the leaders? Jake is on a mission to help Elite Achievers become leaders by mastering the CIA of Influence: Conviction, Irresistibility & Accountability. Join us today for a lively conversation full of exciting adventure stories and insights on how to become a better leader!

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