Large workplaces can be intimidating places for employees, especially for those who are unhappy in their jobs. Michael Levine exemplifies someone working to change that. In this interview, Michael shares how he found the courage to speak up and advocate, on a regular basis, for positive culture change in an institutional setting. He also shares words of advice to those who are looking for a new career... it's about trusting the universe! Michael's energy, positive outlook and passions outside of his job will surely inspire many of us in the workforce to similarly create a happier work environment and life!

Michael Levine has been a high school teacher in Southern Maine since 2001, first as a drama teacher and then as an English teacher. He is the founding Producing Director of Acorn Productions and has also been teaching and directing theater in Portland since the mid 1990's. During the renovations of the St. Lawrence Arts Center Parish Hall Theater in 2000, he worked closely with that organization’s board to design and execute the improvements that remain in place at that venue to this day. He has served as Artistic Director of the Maine Playwrights Festival and Acorn's Naked Shakespeare series, as well as conducting theater workshops in area elementary, middle and high schools. He is a graduate of M.I.T., where he studied playwrighting with A.R. Gurney, and acting with Kristen Linklater, and Shakespeare and Company. He co-founded the old Oak Street Theater, has worked at Portland Stage Company and the New Repertory Theatre. Most recently, Levine began a new job teaching English at Windham High School.

If you liked this interview, you can follow this podcast for more like this to come (or subscribe on iTunes). To learn more about me, Rachel Horton White, please visit www.soulfulworkconsulting.com

It is my honor to introduce the story of my friend Jamie O'Sullivan. A business owner, deejay, and hair cutter/colorist, Jamie is a wise, old soul who has shared his mind-expanding thoughts with me over the years (as he styles my hair).

In this interview, Jamie boldly shares his story of how receiving an HIV diagnosis at a young age changed his life forever and opened his heart and soul to appreciating life, especially by being connected to others and to something beyond himself. In making the simple choice to live, rather than accepting a possibility of death, Jamie is an inspiration.

James Alton O'Sullivan was born on December 4, 1974 in Manchester, New Hampshire. He grew up in New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. By age 5 his parents had decided to move home to their home state of Maine. Since then Portland Maine has been Jamie's home. He graduated from Portland High School in 1993, and after a short stint at the Evergreen State College, he attended Pierre's School of Beauty. Jamie has been a licensed Cosmetologist since 1998, and currently has a salon at 142 High Street, Suite 512 in Portland, Maine (contact Jamie at 207-318-7895).

His hobbies included deejaying, snowboarding, skateboarding, camping, swimming, biking, and really anything outside. At home he loves to cook, listen to music and watch endless amounts of television and movies.

If you liked this interview, you can follow this podcast for more like this to come (or subscribe on iTunes). To learn more about me, Rachel Horton White, please visit www.soulfulworkconsulting.com

I have been blessed to have had the opportunity speak with a wise and compassionate soul, Robert Atkinson. Through his fascinating life studying with Joseph Campbell and Pete Seeger, living in a Franciscan monastery, and delving into soul-making through the journey of the hero and through the Baha'i faith, Bob has a depth of wisdom that will surely help us all in our evolution toward our collective unity as the consciousness of one. Don't miss at 32:52 his sharing on the three phases of the evolution of human consciousness (through his next book), the last of which we are entering now as we return to our sacred roots of living in alignment with all that is.

Robert Atkinson, Ph.D., is an internationally acknowledged authority on life story interviewing and a pioneer in the deeper techniques of personal myth-making and soul-making. His books in these areas have been translated in to three languages and are widely used in personal growth and life review settings.

His most recent book, Mystic Journey: Getting to the Heart of Your Soul’s Story (2012), was called “an exquisite exploration of the spiritual craft of soul-making” by Jean Houston, author of A Mythic Life. Of his memoir, Remembering 1969: Searching for the Eternal in Changing Times (2008), Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul, said it was “profound, friendly, inspiring, and nostalgic… I loved it.”

His other books include, Songs of the Open Road: The Poetry of Folk Rock and the Journey of the Hero (1974); The Teenage World: Adolescents’ Self-Image in Ten Countries (1987); The Gift of Stories: Practical and Spiritual Applications of Autobiography, Life Stories, and Personal Mythmaking (1995; translated into Japanese, 2005); The Life Story Interview (1998; translated into Italian, 2002, and Romanian, 2006); The Beat of My Drum (2005), an autobiography with Babatunde Olatunji; and, Latino Voices in New England (2009).

His BA is in Philosophy and American Studies from LIU, Southampton, and his MA degrees are in American Folk Culture from SUNY, Cooperstown, and in Counseling from the University of New Hampshire. His Ph.D. is in Cross-Cultural Human Development from the University of Pennsylvania; he was also a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Chicago.

At the University of Southern Maine, he was the first Diversity Scholar in the College of Education and Human Development, and a co-founding faculty of the Russell Scholars Program and the Religious Studies minor. He was also a faculty member on the fall 2002 Semester at Sea voyage around the world.

His forthcoming book is The Story of Our Time: How We’re Coming to See All Things as Interconnected, and will be released during the winter of 2017.

He is professor emeritus at USM, director of Life Story Commons, and online at www.RobertAtkinson.net.

If you liked this interview, you can follow this podcast for more like this to come (or subscribe on iTunes). To learn more about me, Rachel Horton White, please visit www.soulfulworkconsulting.com

There is a movement happening around the world toward a remote workforce. While this is a blessing in many ways, people also crave connection with others. In this interview, Patrick Roche discusses the power of co-working and people's deep urges, a tribal mentality of sorts, to interact with other human beings. Patrick explains here how, through the blend of modern technology and a return to community connection, co-working will be the salvation of our economy.

Patrick Roche is the President and Owner of Think Tank Coworking, based in Portland Maine with locations in nearby Yarmouth & Biddeford. Think Tank has grown to become Northern New England’s largest network of coworking facilities, providing nearly 300 members with access to professional, creative and collaborative workspace.

Members have 24 hour coded access to the space, replete with lounge areas, phone booths, conference rooms, kitchen and internet. Think Tank’s also host to networking events, documentary screenings and arts programming.

Patrick sits on a number of non-profit and business advisory boards. He is the recipient of the 2014 Entreverge Award hosted by PROPEL and Successful Innovative Small Business award by SCORE. In addition to running Think Tank, Patrick has a background in building construction, film production and journalism. In his copious free time, he continues to write and pursue his passion for the literary arts.

He lives in Portland, Maine. ​​

Learn more about Patrick and Think Tank at: www.thinktankcoworking.com

If you liked this interview, you can follow this podcast for more like this to come (or subscribe on iTunes). To learn more about me, Rachel Horton White, please visit www.soulfulworkconsulting.com

In this interview with Erin Curren, Nia teacher, improv actress, and professor of French, we explore the gifts of the body in awakening the life force from within, stepping out of a comfort zone to find growth, and the importance of staying open to what life brings for our livelihoods, our learning and our highest potential on the planet. Be sure to listen at 19:06 to Erin talking about awakening passion, sensation and awareness in the body to uncover one's life purpose through Nia.

Teacher, artist, performer, dancer, Erin Curren is above all a lifelong learner. Her biggest thrill comes from inspiring people of all ages to connect on a deeper level with their bodies, their hearts and one another. Erin finds outlets for her passion through Nia and Playback (http://portlandplayback.com), among other endeavors. When not on her bicycle, Erin can be found behind the wheel of her "bejazzled" winged Subaru she calls the Gypsy Crib. Erin lives in Westbrook with her husband Bob.

Learn more about Erin on her website (www.erincurren.com).

If you liked this interview, you can follow this podcast for more like this to come (or subscribe on iTunes). To learn more about me, Rachel Horton White, please visit www.soulfulworkconsulting.com

The nature of reality, human suffering and our understanding of our own existence are among the topics that Seth Leaf Pruzansky discusses in this interview of exploration, awareness and discovery. Check out at 21:58 a 10-minute clip in which Seth and I talk about the generational dissociation with reality, and how we as humans can shift our limited perceptions of who we are to experience less suffering in our lives and on the planet.

Seth Leaf Pruzansky was born into this world with the ability to interpret deeply profound universal wisdom directly from his soul. Throughout the course of his life he has learned how to masterfully articulate this knowing in a way that benefits those who are desperately looking for real answers to the big questions in life.

Seth has spent countless hours in meditation since he was a child, including a “forced” and extended meditation retreat in a monastery called federal prison. He has taken the development of his inner state and applied it successfully to the world at large through “conscious-preneurship.”

Seth is a soon to be published author of the book “A Return to Enlightenment: The Journey from Source and Back Again” (Waterside Publishing Agency. He is co-owner/founder of the certified organic raw food snack company Living Nutz (www.livingnutz.com), and co-owner/founder of Tourmaline Spring-the highest quality most ethically produced bottled water on earth (www.tourmalinespring.com).

Editor of a blog dedicated to transforming human consciousness (www.theuniversalobserver.com), Seth also is the vocalist for “In the Wind,” an acoustic duo a band that creates music with person and collective universal themes(facebook.com/InTheWindBand/). Lastly, he is a co-host of Soul’s Sandbox-a podcast/video show that explores personal and collective universal themes that we all face and deal with on a daily basis (facebook.com/soulssandbox).

If you liked this interview, you can follow this podcast (or subscribe on iTunes). To learn more about me, Rachel Horton White, please visit www.soulfulworkconsulting.com

I was blessed with the opportunity to spend some time with this inspirational man, musician, healer and kind spirit. Join me for an illuminating interview with Ben Carroll, sharing his life story as a successful musician and his path to re-discovering himself through a deeper connection to spirituality and music. Don't miss the 4-minute clip at 22:40 when Ben talks about our understanding and embracing the change that we're experiencing at deep levels on our planet. It will open your mind in ways you never thought were possible!

Ben Carroll is a musician, sound explorer, sound healer, writer, teacher, and a perpetual student of life. Ben, a former Universal Recording Artist, has a successful music career that spans well past a decade, and is currently gearing up to release his 16th full length album, Multidimensional Voice, out August 8, 2016. With Multidimensional Voice Ben's musical adventures have started him down an exciting new path which has combined his recording career with his sound healing work. Ben is also very active with The Star Teachings, a beautifully expanding spiritual community. He also writes regular soul searching and inspirational blog posts for his website InnerSelfSustained on the nature of these times and humanity's evolution into powerful, spiritual, connected, conscious beings.

Learn more at:

http://bencarrollmusic.com/

https://www.facebook.com/innerselfsustained/

http://www.starteachings.org/

If you liked this interview, you can follow this podcast (or subscribe on iTunes). To learn more about me, Rachel Horton White, please visit www.soulfulworkconsulting.com

This quieting the mind exercise is designed to bring light from the universal divine source through your heart and to those around you: to loved ones, to those that challenge you, to those suffering, to your environment, and to the planet.

If you liked this, you can follow this podcast (or subscribe on iTunes). To learn more about me, Rachel Horton White, please visit www.soulfulworkconsulting.com

I am delighted to share this interview with Susannah Sanfilippo, a yoga teacher offering The Yoga of Susannah yoga and guided meditations, on how she found yoga, kirtan (despite feeling like she couldn't sing!), and immersed herself in her "home" (the world of yoga) by becoming a teacher. Join us for this rich conversation on human consciousness, the yearning for connection, and the power of yoga to unite body and soul.

Susannah Sanfilippo is a Registered Yoga Teacher who has practiced yoga for over twenty one years. She teaches classes at the beginner and intermediate levels. Along with her training in classical yoga, she has in-depth studies in: yoga breathing techniques for relaxation, pain reduction and emotional balance; mindfulness meditation; restorative yoga; anatomy of yoga positions; somatic movement that promotes kinesthetic awareness. Susannah is also a singer and has a background in the visual arts.

Learn more about Susannah at www.theyogaofsusannah.com

If you liked this interview, you can follow this podcast (or subscribe on iTunes). To learn more about me, Rachel Horton White, please visit www.soulfulworkconsulting.com

Ralph McGehee was one of the most courageous humans I have ever met, as he passed on from this world on May 2, 2020 at age 92 years old. He also happens to be my grandfather, my Papa. It is my deep honor to have had the privilege to interview him about his life serving in the CIA in Southeast Asia, and his disillusionment with what he was being asked to do by the US government. His bravery in sharing the truth, in going public with a book that was widely received by the press and the American public. He was an inspiration to me and I think to many others as well.

Ralph Walter McGehee was an American former officer of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He worked for the CIA from 1952 to 1977, yet went on to be highly critical of the agency. He was an All-American football player atUniversity of Notre Dame when they won three national championships in 1946-1949. McGehee received a B.S. in Business Administration cum laude). Upon graduation, he spent a year as an offensive line coach at University of Dayton. After moving to Chicago and taking a job as a management trainee at Montgomery Ward, he was recruited by the CIA. Upon completion of training, he was stationed in numerous field offices as well as at CIA headquarters. Since leaving the CIA, he has been highly critical of the organization. In spite of this, in 1977 McGehee was awarded the CIA's Career Intelligence Medal. His 1983 book, Deadly Deceits: My 25 Years in the CIA outlines his experiences there. Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair hailed it as "one of the outstanding books written by former CIA agents". McGehee has written articles on CIA activities for the Washington Post, The Nation, The Progressive, Harper's Magazine and Gannet News Service among others. He has also developed CIABASE, a computer database of CIA figures and programs compiled from available public information.

"The CIA is not now nor has it ever been a central intelligence agency. It is the covert action arm of the President's foreign policy advisers. In that capacity it overthrows or supports foreign governments while reporting "intelligence" justifying those activities. It shapes its intelligence, even in such critical areas as Soviet nuclear weapon capability, to support presidential policy. Disinformation is a large part of its covert action responsibility, and the American people are the primary target audience of its lies." - Ralph McGehee

If you liked this, you can follow this podcast (or subscribe on iTunes). To learn more about me, Rachel Horton White, please visit www.soulfulworkconsulting.com