Rewired Mind

Welcome back! It's been a crazy year and while we are starting up yet another season of Rewired Mind, it's a bit different than you've come to expect. This season I'm featuring the audio version of many of my LinkedIn live sessions. I considered the time constraints I have (that most of us have, really) and decided that, while I loved doing the book reviews with colleagues, it took a significant amount of time to coordinate. But I still wanted to publish useful content. After looking at the LinkedIn Live archive that we've built up and the interesting insights I got from those friends and colleagues I spoke with over the last couple of years, I decided to release the audio only version. I hope that you'll find some source of inspiration or insight from these business leaders and professionals!

I jump in with Nick Morrison founder of Potere, and Teresa Marzolph founder of Culture Engineered, on the subject of taking or making a counter offer. This was originally recorded in July of 2021, and while it pre-dated a lot of the shift we've seen in the workplace, the interesting thing is how both my guests led with predictions for the near future that we are still seeing today.

I hope that you'll enjoy all three of our perspectives. I think the fun part of this one was the unique perspectives that we have on the topic.

Enjoy, and I hope that you'll join me for more of these recorded sessions.

Allen

In this episode of Rewired Mind, I sit down with Anthony Garone and Ellis Fitch, founders of Edify Content and authors of the book "Winning the Job Search: The Hard Truth About Getting Hired." Joining me as co-host is Kelly Geary, bringing a tremendous amount of experience in the industry.

We start with a discussion about the relevance of the book amidst the unpredictable job market, especially during and post-COVID. Anthony and Ellis share their personal experiences of getting laid off and witnessing others facing similar challenges, and highlight the need for practical guidance in the job search.

This book should be included in graduation gift bags and college curriculums, according to Kelly, and I couldn't agree more! She talks about the value of preparing emotionally and investing time in job search preparation, which can significantly impact the length and difficulty of the journey.

Ellis's perspective in this book also adds a fresh take on job searching, particularly for women. Anthony, a self-described introvert, explains that introversion doesn't equate to avoiding difficult conversations; it's more about losing energy in social interactions. We talk about the tension between their viewpoints, which provides readers with a broader understanding of job search strategies and the different challenges for different types of people.

We also talk about the book's misconceptions and the intention behind each chapter's titles.

Join me and Kelly Geary in this enlightening conversation that challenges conventional wisdom and offers practical insights into winning the job search game.

Find the book on Amazon here.

Edify Content PeopleGetters.com

Allen Plunkett - PhoenixStaff.com

In this episode of the Rewired Mind podcast, hosts Allen Plunkett, Ellis Fitch, and Kelly Geary sit down with Kurt Wilkin, author of the book Who's Your Mike?: A No-Bullshit Guide to the People You'll Meet on Your Entrepreneurial Journey.

They discuss the importance of having a strong support system when starting a business and navigating the ups and downs of entrepreneurship. Kurt shares insights from his own experience as a founder and CEO, and talks about the different types of people or "Mikes" that entrepreneurs need in their lives to succeed. The conversation touches on topics like networking, mentorship, and building authentic relationships.

Listeners will come away with practical tips for identifying and cultivating the right connections on their own entrepreneurial journey.

I could not wait to talk again with JeVon McCormick. On our new season, I am joined by Ellis Fitch and Anthony Garone.

We dive into JeVon's second book, Modern Leader, including a chat about the foreword written by the one and only David Goggins. JeVon talks about how that came about.

We dive into a substantial moment in JeVon's life, and part of the motivation for his latest book. Making the decision to go by JeVon instead of J.T. (which you'll hear him referred to in our season 1 interview here), he talks about "the broken playbook" that we all play by, and how he made the decision to own his full name, and what he hopes to see by doing that.

Allen talks about a story in the book about a drive JeVon took with his dad through an area of River Oaks, and how some of those moments motivated him to write this latest book as well. JeVon talks about who he specifically wanted to reach with this message.

Allen mentions a phenomenon that JeVon brought up in the book about shaming people for asking questions. JeVon talks about the responsibility of people to teach rather than to take the position that it "isn't my responsibility to teach them".

Ellis and JeVon dive into DEI initiatives (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion), particularly within publicly traded companies, and JeVon talks about how some of the intentions are misguided.

JeVon talks about some interesting examples about changing the playbook, and cites the example of the change of leadership and pattern of succession at TIAA-CREF, and how now Thasunda Brown Duckett is the current CEO.

Anthony asks about what practical top-down solutions companies can put in practice to affect real change to the broken playbook.

Thanks for listening to this episode. Here are some links below from the show and more information about the hosts.

• JeVon's LinkedIn page
• JeVonMcCormick.com website
• Scribe Media website

The hosts of the show:

• Allen Plunkett, owner of Phoenix Staff
• Ellis Fitch, Content Strategist and co-founder of Edify Content
• Anthony Garone, Ghostwriter and co-founder of Edify Content

The new season of the Rewired Mind Podcast, hosted by self-made entrepreneur Allen Plunkett returns Tuesday, March 14th.

This season you'll hear more amazing conversations with industry leaders who have transformed their organizations and their lives - by rewiring their thinking and adopting new concepts.

Allen, alongside trusted friends and colleagues, will interview authors who've overcome obstacles and rewired the way they approach life, work, and family. We'll also have videos of many of these episodes as well!

Join us as we sit down with these authors, then discuss our thoughts after the interview!

Don't miss the first episode of season 2, coming Tuesday, March 14th!

Gelie Akhenblit is probably best known as the founder of largest Networking Community in Phoenix, NetworkingPhoenix.com. After starting with nothing, Gelie has built this network to close to 43,000 members. A fighter in every sense of the word, Gelie is someone who is always intent on rewiring her own mind while helping others in rewiring theirs as well.

Through the massive network of professionals and the close relationships that she has built with people over the years, Gelie is interested serving. She has learned that one of the ways she can help is by offering connectedness and a sense of community to those who may otherwise struggle to find these things.

Her road has not been a simple one. From quitting her job and launching her own business to almost losing that business after a divorce - Gelie is the epitome of a fighter and someone who knows how to battle to achieve success. With every step, she displays confidence and perseverance that she will reach her goals no matter the obstacle.

You can listen to her TedX talk here and visit her website here.

Gelie makes a reference to her blog post here.

Find her LinkedIn page here.

Gary Robinson is an author and speaker whose search for purpose after being arrested and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Ultimately he made changes that led him to inspire others to believe in themselves and the genius that they have inside.

Gary talked about being arrested at age 20 for armed robbery and his "rewired moment" when he was sitting in his jail cell and realized that he needed to change. The way he'd handled things up until that point didn't work. He prayed not to leave jail as the same type of person he was when he came in.

He spoke about his childhood - watching his mom get arrested and being raised by his great-grandmother. He was surprised to find himself put in a Bible study group in prison by a relative he knew from his youth; reuniting with his cousin and how that experience helped him get out of the fixed mindset he was in. During that time he also met Lester Young. Among a few others, Lester was a tremendous influence. If you haven't heard my interview with Lester, you should. The inspiration and wisdom shared between these two gentlemen is incredible, and the fact that Lester's intervention in Gary's life was so profound will come as no surprise.

Hitting rock bottom and recognizing that you need help can be a treacherous journey, and Gary's experiences are truly the epitome of that.

He recounts Robin Sharma's quote, "Delete the energy vampires from your life, clean out all complexity, build a team around you that frees you to fly, remove anything toxic, and cherish simplicity, because that's where genius lives." His approach to life now is simple - figure out your purpose and be great at it.

You can buy a copy of his book Mining the Diamond in You: A Journey of Reinvention and Transformation here.

When people go to describe this guest on Rewired Mind, they may want to say attorney, speaker, author etc. but Kirk Nurmi would just like to simply be known as a human being. The quote "no one wants to die with music still left inside them" by Dr. Wayne Dyer has been an inspiration for Kirk.

He famously was the defense attorney in the Jodi Arias trial, which lasted from January 2013- April 2015. During this 2 ½ year period, he faced threats and public scrutiny, leading him to step away from law and even getting diagnosed with cancer as a result of the pressure from the trial.

As a result of the cancer, Kirk changed his focus to make his happiness a priority, something he had not done in the years prior to the diagnosis. The biggest question that he had to answer was "Am I Happy?" This forced him to examine areas of his life and make decisions based on how he answered that question.

A book he would recommend is I Can See Clearly Now by Wayne Dyer.

You can buy his book Defend Your Greatness here.

Candice Liozu is the Director of an amazing non-profit called Foster360. This organization focuses on assisting young adults who are aging out of the foster care system.

Candice shares her journey of working at the highest levels in the corporate world to now being the Director of a non-profit. She worked for what she envisioned as being akin to the "American Dream" when working for SAP after moving here from Europe and had her in the mindset of being a "shark" in an industry that is full of highly motivated, competitive people and leaders.

Her rewired moment: came one evening at dinner. She heard a voice that led her to believe, finally, that she should be making decisions for herself rather than others to do so on her behalf. She'd been allowing others to make decisions for her for years.

This experience led her to work with Mesa United Way and the creation of Foster360.

You can learn more and donate to Foster 360 by going to Foster360az.com

Some things that Candice mentioned were helpful to her were the books Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Joe Dispenza, Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch, Willpower Doesn't Work by Ben Hardy and the music of Ottmar Liebert.

"Whatever pain you experience can be power to create the life you want". This quote fits the story of Luke Kayyem, a performance life coach, corporate leadership consultant and keynote speaker. He shifted his focus to specific things after having a fixed mindset for most of his life. He got into reading and starting to widen his mindset in 2017 and was influenced by author David Deida, after going to an event where he was a guest speaker.

We chat about his childhood and how being raised by a single mom impacted him. He was on a path of self-destruction when he started drinking and partying.

Luke has worked hard to change his mindset from fixed to one focused on searching and seeking. Recognizing that he was throwing so much away due to his addiction, he now aims to help other men on their own journey of life. Through his program called Fathers of the Future, Luke helps men live their legacy despite their own set of bad circumstances. You can learn more about it here.

You can get in touch with Luke by going to https://www.lukekayyem.com/

Books that Luke recommends: The Way of the Superior Man, David Deida and Mindset, Carol Dweck