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In April, I attended an Interfaith Panel Discussion followed by a Kosher for Passover- Iftar break the fast. 

The discussion was about what comes after death… But I was totally taken by the life in the room. The connection to God, and commitment to curiosity, was palpable. There seemed to be no wrong answers. The program began with the Jewish evening prayers and concluded with something I have never before stood to witness- but have heard hundreds of times before- in Israel- the Muslim call to prayer. 

How is it that a woman who has felt the holiness of Jerusalem, felt deja vu in Jacksonville? And that is what we are going to tackle today…

In this episode I speak with the co-host and moderator of that evening, Rev. Rebekah Hutto, the Executive Director of the Interfaith Center of Northeast Florida.

In addition to being a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church, Rev. Hutto is also an accomplished author, having written several children’s books, “The Day God Made Church” and “Paul and His Friends”, as well as contributing to various curricula.  

Rev. Hutto is a Master of Divinity graduate from Duke University Divinity School and received an undergraduate degree from Wofford College. Her husband, Rev. Dr. B.J. Hutto, is the senior minister at Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church.

More on the Interfaith Center of Northeast Florida here: 

http://interfaithnefl.org

Check out Rev. Hutto’s books here:

https://www.amazon.com/Day-When-God-Made-Church/dp/1612615643/ref=nodl_?dplnkId=be2e77d8-a5a4-4907-af16-3d16cde0ef50

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Welcome back to Season 2!
In Season 1, I asked you to borrow my binoculars and have a look at this city of Jacksonville- our strengths and opportunities.

As we stand poised on the precipice of a new mayor, I wanted to gain perspective from what many call the BEST in the business here. 

I want to know- does authenticity, transparency and empathy have to exist in order to cultivate a climate of trust and build consensus?
Can leadership be learned or does it have to be innate?
And that is what we are going to tackle today…

This episode’s guest, John Delaney, is the Flagler College President, the President Emeritus of the University of North Florida, and the former Mayor of Jacksonville, the largest city in land area in the continental U.S. 

His tenure is marked by the Better Jacksonville Plan, a $2.5 billion capital improvement plan, and the Preservation Project, creating a 100-square-mile park system, the largest of its kind for a city in the country. He served two terms and was elected without opposition for his second term, all of which he talks about in this episode. 

Visit : https://www.flagler.edu to see how John is leading the #2 best regional college in the South, according to US News and World report.

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Once upon a time, when I was a young and idealistic student, I used to look at the world and see all the solutions that seemed SO obvious. And so I tried to change the world. But I was just one person. And mostly inexperienced… And that didn’t work...

So I went back to my city and saw all the ills facing society and set to telling them how to fix it. But they couldn’t hear me…

So I looked at my community and shared all the ways they could do better… But they weren’t listening…

So I went back to my house and saw where my family needed to improve- and thought they would be thrilled with the free advice!  But that alienated them mostly… 

Because I hadn’t yet learned the best lead by example…

So I looked at myself in the mirror and understood that the ONLY person I could REALLY change is MYSELF.  And I got to work. 

And over time, my family felt the impact and joined me… 

And WE created a shift in our community… And together with our community we reframed the focus of our city.

And now, my friends, together- me, you, our community, my guests, this city…WE will SHAPE the landscape of the world. 

And that is what we are going to tackle today…

My guest today is a man who has faced brutality, scrutiny, hostility… Which makes the fact that he resonates with dignity, empathy and humanity a testament to his place in our culture.

A survivor who thrives and in spite of EVERYTHING believes that “you must leave them better than you found them,” the first black Sheriff of Jacksonville, former President of his Alma Mater- Edward Waters University, Mr. Nat Glover.

Mr. Glover's memoir, Striving for Justice- A Black Sheriff in the Deep South, will be released on Juneteenth through the Frederick Douglas Family Initiative. 

The proceeds from the book will go to fund Nat Glover's scholarship called “Where They Will Shine.” You can find out more at www.wheretheywillshine.com.

If you enjoyed this podcast, please follow, review and share.

That will do it for season ONE... Stay tuned for SEASON TWO!
Stay inspired AND inspiring...
xoxo
Suze

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Upon entering the main sanctuary of every synagogue that I have ever been in, I recall seeing the following verse embroidered, inscribed or emblazoned above the arc, ‏דע לפני מי אתה עומד-  Know before whom you stand.

In comedy circles we say, know your audience.

When I am out with my husband in a group, I sometimes see that look in his eyes and nudge him before he tells that joke I know he is about to tell, to “read the room,” knowing this group won’t get it.

Each of these clichés seem rather obvious, and when we think about ourselves- we imagine our communication style will always be met with positivity.

But, in this fast paced world where we engage with so many different people on so many different platforms, what happens when we feel ourselves losing the room, losing our cool or our composure? How can we tap into all of our tools to effectively engage, enlighten, and inspire? 
And that is what we are going to tackle today...

My guest today is an expert in Emotional Intelligence and the CEO and Founder of Smarter Emotions- Balancing Head and Heart, Dr. Patricia Baxter. You can find out more at www.drpatbaxter.com.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a friend. Your support helps more people discover these conversations and the remarkable people helping shape our communities and our future.
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Have you ever heard the term “safe word?” 

While YOU may be thinking 50 shades of grey, I’M talking 50 shades of red.

As the primary caregiver to my children, their evolving emotional, physical and mental needs are becoming more and more… consuming to me. 

Their booboos are no longer cuts and scrapes, rather a myriad of moments that are shaping their formative years. Those newly emerging personalities and emotions that I am teaching to self-regulate- all while trying not to crush their tiny little spirits- is challenging on its best day.

Their homework requires patience- from both of us. I am constantly answering questions that I think to myself, “aren’t they too young to know this?” 

And by the end of the day the disarray, disagreements, and the disdain over my husband and kids “she’s yelling again" faces has me seeing red. 

Probably 50 shades of it. 

The fact is, my spouse, the primary breadwinner, has his own set of concerns that consume him- and they are equally important. It is what HE does, with God’s blessing, that enables us to have this wonderful life.

But why are they always walking past him to shout “mom!” when they need something? And when did “mom” the noun become an action verb synonymous with “parenting?” 

And that is what we are gonna tackle today….

My guests today are two friends, who turned into moms, then turned into unexpected entrepreneurs. And like the moms they seek to serve, they both faced many common challenges related to the healthcare, workforce and societal systems in place that make today's standards for parents nearly impossible. 

Their products are genius yet simple, personal yet universal, premium-quality yet budget-conscious, and always non-toxic- just as they themselves are!

They are thought-leaders in maternal well-being who cultivate confidence in motherhood- Megan Mangiarcino and Natalie McBride, Co-Founders of Baby Boldly. 

You can find out more at www.babyboldly.com and on instagram @babyboldly.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a friend. Your support helps more people discover these conversations and the remarkable people helping shape our communities and our future.
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Boro Park, Brooklyn, New York circa the late 70s where I grew up was a mix of multiculturalism- if you count Irish, Italian and Jewish as diversity. When my dark, Sephardic looking Israeli mom went apartment shopping with her very blonde and blue-eyed, soon to be mother-in-law, she was asked to wait outside. Repeatedly. The “cleaner” was not welcome for a tour. 

About a year later, as she strolled me down 13th Avenue- my blue eyes just like my Daddy’s- she was asked if she was the nanny? or the cleaner? By this point she understood that ‘cleaner’ didn’t mean the same thing as ‘cleaning lady’. She did NOT look Eastern European. 

Hearing my mom tell me these stories as a teenager myself, and seeing her face flush with renewed shame and embarrassment of being dismissed because of her appearance, made me empathize for that 18/19/20 year old immigrant kid. 

Knowing that my grandparents were survivors of a nearly successful, systematic genocide because of THEIR race made me understand that I had to have my finger on the pulse of progress- by asking myself AND others, when did you first notice you were different from other people? OR Did you notice other people were different first? And that is what we are going to tackle today...

My guest is Dr. Kimberly Allen, CEO of 904ward, an organization committed to creating a community of inclusion for all of Jacksonville, FL’s residents. They take pride in mobilizing thousands of volunteers every year to create racial healing and equity through conversation, connection and a commitment to caring. 

Find out more at www.904ward.org and download the RACE CARDS app. 

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a friend. Your support helps more people discover these conversations and the remarkable people helping shape our communities and our future.
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You may wonder when it is that I honed in on my smartass skills as a superpower for good- and not evil…? Back in the 1990s, my hometown of New York City was a real life landscape of the bleak and the boom. The dawn of the decade followed twenty years of continuous decay and 1990 brought an all-time record high in violent crime. Concurrently, the Wall Street boom invigorated the economy… while Hundreds of thousands of immigrants were flooding into the boroughs to join the overcrowded lines of needs-based services.

The fashions, fads and even the films of the 90s are making a comeback, but how are we handling the needs, like homelessness, that never left…. and that is what we are going to tackle today. 

My guest, Dr. Colleen Bell, Medical Director of Sulzbacher Center, is a trust builder, who is working on cracking the code of care to one of the most misunderstood groups we are challenged with as a society by building connection- the Homeless Mental Health Cycle.

You can find out more information about Sulzbacher Center at 
www.SulzbacherJax.org

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a friend. Your support helps more people discover these conversations and the remarkable people helping shape our communities and our future.
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Can I tell you a secret…? It wasn't until I was in middle school that I was aware of “mixed marriages” which, by the way, in MY community meant someone marrying not another Jewish person. Growing up in my shtetl of first-generation immigrants, we married amongst our mother tongue- which was pretty much the same as our religion. Capisce? Lamurit? Entiendes? Farshteist? 

By the time I was in high school, “mixed marriage”  had morphed into “intermarriage”... And by my twenties, it was rebranded as “Interfaith.” But, is Interfaith about more than just religion… Is it code for something we aren’t quite clear on in the context of community - and that is what we are going to tackle today?

My guest is Kyle Reese, Executive Director of OneJax Institute, a nonprofit organization that seeks to promote diversity as the foundation for a strong community. They work to increase respect and improve relationships among people who represent the rich menagerie of religious, ethnic, racial and cultural groups that compose the community of Jacksonville, Florida.

You can find out more by visiting www.OneJax.org.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a friend. Your support helps more people discover these conversations and the remarkable people helping shape our communities and our future.
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Subscribe to the Schmooze with Suze Podcast for your dose of #Culture, #Values and #GlobalCitizenship... with a side of #chutzpah... 

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Do you dread get togethers, holidays or social events because of a particular person or people? Perhaps you put off conversations at work because it's easier than confronting a coworker? Or maybe you talk about difficult issues, instead of addressing them head on? How can we navigate the personal, professional, and social conversations that we struggle with...? And that is what we are going to tackle today.

From BMW to Delta Airlines, The Kennedy Center to AvisBudgetGroup – the more organizations, leaders, and frontline teams insist their problems are unique, the more evidence my guest Erin O'Malley discovers that the traits that connect us are universal. Erin focuses on giving people the tools and inspiration they need to imagine what’s possible and discover their impact.

You can find out how to book Erin O'Malley for workshops, trainings, and coaching at www.erinmomalley.com
(347)677-3221

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a friend. Your support helps more people discover these conversations and the remarkable people helping shape our communities and our future.
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Subscribe to the Schmooze with Suze Podcast for your dose of #Culture, #Values and #GlobalCitizenship... with a side of #chutzpah... 

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For nearly 45 years, my Dad would mark a Valentine's Day, which also happens to be my mom’s birthday, with chocolate and flowers. A large dozen roses or giant box of chocolates for my mom and single rose or smaller chocolates for my 3 sisters and me. But when my own husband gifted me with chocolates and flowers on our first married Valentine’s Day, I was seriously disappointed and underwhelmed.

Is it the thought that counts… or the feelings that lead up to it… And that is what we are going to tackle today.

My guest is Cheryl Choate Bowen, Intimacy Coach and Sexual Health Consultant. (904) 349-0922
www.PureRomance.com/CherylBowen
https://m.facebook.com/cherylspureromance/

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a friend. Your support helps more people discover these conversations and the remarkable people helping shape our communities and our future.
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Subscribe to the Schmooze with Suze Podcast for your dose of #Culture, #Values and #GlobalCitizenship... with a side of #chutzpah... 

Don’t forget to leave a review if you enjoyed this episode!