The Game Changer Network

Stephanie Costolo went from having it all—a husband, two kids, a home—to losing everything and starting from scratch in a new state, completely on her own. Her courage and her relationship with God were tested during that turbulent year, but in the end, she emerged stronger than ever.

This touching interview with Stephanie Costolo is done in partnership with NowSCPress. It is a part of our Game Changing Legacy series.

Her story in What Matters Most of All: The Year I Turned Thirty is moving, inspiring and empowering. What Matters Most of All is a series written for women who are searching for fulfillment and answers in their lives. Share our laughs and our tears, and find a common link with women who may look like they have it all together on the outside, but have worked hard to overcome difficult trials with faith and grace. Stephanie’s incredible journey will inspire and encourage any woman struggling with change and growth. She shares the lessons she learned, and gives other women advice for not just surviving, but flourishing amidst the biggest challenges in life.

Stephanie is the Editor in Chief of Resident Magazine and is also the Florida Regional Manager, TraffickingFree Zone at U.S. Institute Against Human Trafficking.

The principles of Tell Me More are told in story format through the eyes of the primary character, Maria Sanchez. Maria is an experienced and successful manager moving into the role of CEO for a national vision-care company. Through her journey she recognizes that she must empower her team if the company is going to move from complacency into growth-mode. With the help of a speaker and consultant, Jane Smith, she employs the Tell Me More strategy to get her team to embrace new concepts, to empower themselves, and to empower the people that report to them.

My premise is that most employees can be better trained, motivated and developed by using a simple strategy, called Tell Me More. This strategy allows managers and leaders to better understand the mindset and challenges of their employees by listening them, helping them to “unpack” the challenges they face, and empower them to make better decisions. This empowerment leads to a stronger employee with a greater sense of commitment to the company and to the mission of their jobs.

Many managers, especially those new to management, often believe that their job is to have all the answers and to force compliance. This only leads to a dissatisfied employee and a negative work environment.

I seek to make people proficient in a strategy that is simple, but not easy. It is easier to jump in and give guidance and direction rather than helping an employee to understand and reach solid decisions on their own. But the reward for this method is extremely loyal employees who are committed both to the manager, and to the company.

Narrated by Linda Rendleman, MS, CEO and Cofounder of the Women Like Us Foundation, she introduces you to women who have a heart for making a difference for humanity. You’ll read personal stories and strategies from women such as Dianne Hudson, past producer of the Oprah Winfrey Show; Catt Sadler of E! News; Ida Odinga, former first lady of Kenya; Nancy Noël, International Artist and more. Through these women’s stories and remarks, coupled with Linda Rendleman’s own personal story of empowerment and experiences combined with women’s charitable and corporate leadership, the reader will understand that she, too, in whatever capacity she chooses, can be a part of changing the world.

Grit & Grace is a collection of quotes, stories and sage advice from female trailblazers, creatively designed to inspire modern-day leaders. 

Powerful words from groundbreakers like Marie Curie and Susan B. Anthony have moved and motivated us for generations. Today, many more women and girls are leading the way across all walks of life. From the authors of the breakout inspirational book Beautifully Said comes Grit & Grace, a showcase of the brilliant minds, innovative careers, and fascinating backstories of female leaders. You'll find world-famous and less-visible changemakers, including Nobel winners, CEOs and pop stars...plus, an artisan ice cream maker, police chief, bishop, orchestra conductor and cruise ship captain.

Grit & Grace is the perfect companion for dreaming up fresh possibilities and translating vision into action. Its pages pair sourced quotations with the uncommon stories of a host of remarkable women, readying today's leaders to imagine new futures. Plus, it's stylishly designed so readers can creatively share what inspires them. The book makes a meaningful gift for sisters, daughters, friends, teammates, teachers, colleagues, newly minted grads, and the other dreamers and doers in your life.

Gallup reports that only 13% of employees are engaged at work. Why so low? Many leaders struggle to effectively engage and inspire their teams. Often, we are so distracted with the day-to-day tasks that we can overlook key fundamentals in building a strong workplace culture empowering employee allegiance and job satisfaction.

The 7 Intuitive Laws of Employee Loyalty is a guidebook of implementable tactics and skills for organizational leaders looking to curate a positive workplace culture that engages and inspires their teams to do their best work. Author Heather R. Younger, J.D., examines and illuminates 7 laws that will put any leader in the driver’s seat to create a more engaged and loyal staff. Want to positively move the needle on your employee engagement numbers? Embrace the laws found in this book to create employee loyalty and catapult your organization!

Read this book if you want:

1. To transform your leadership mindset

2. To endear your team members to you or your organizational leaders

3. To differentiate your employee experience

4. To master employee retention

It’s not profit over people that will make your business successful―it’s when you combine people and profits that you become A HERO LEADER

Today’s leaders need to engage, connect with, listen to and include their employees and customers in the conversation surrounding the business. The Hero Factor discusses the importance of a strong company culture as the backbone of any successful business. Companies with leadership that dismisses the importance of transparency in today’s world are more likely to be called out for not living up to the mission statements on their websites.

Dive in and learn how to implement the traits that will help them become a hero entrepreneur, change their organization, live their values, and create a winning culture where they:

Invest in people as a path to more inclusion

Recast the role of business leadership beyond politics

Serve others/the common good

Avoid failure, reasons why not, and the lure of the dark side when things get tough

Know the line between hero and martyr

Create the next generation of hero leaders

Through a unique combination of stunning, captivating images of front line combat and deeply engaging narrative, War Moments brings modern combat alive like no other book ever has. Photographer / Author Ed Darack has published photographs, articles, and books about modern war for some of the world's most highly respected media outlets, including Newsweek (cover photographer and writer of a cover article), Smithsonian's Air & Space magazine (where his a contributing editor and has had two of images used on the magazine's cover and has written three cover articles), and many others. In creating War Moments, Darack has carefully selected his very best images, and has deftly crafted insightful and compelling narrative about each - the most thought-provoking story behind each image.

Each image and associated story stands as its own chapter in War Moments. With bold, dynamic imagery, and stunning prose, readers of all walks of life throughout the world will cherish War Moments. Darack's images include those taken from the front lines of the war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, and during training throughout the world. He's been given unprecedented access throughout his dozens of embeds, including four to Afghanistan and two to Iraq. This book was created for all those interested in the experience of war, and dramatically pulls the reader in through both images and text.

In business and life, there are often moments when one simply can't seem to find a way forward. Searching in the past for solutions to persistent problems results in frustration and confusion. Issues in corporate teamwork and individual relationships can feel overwhelming and even insurmountable. There's a lack of control and a sense of being stuck. B State provides a clear roadmap from point A to point B to rapidly achieve measurable, breakthrough results. It's about a true transformation that removes old mindsets and silos, while replacing inefficient behaviors with desired habits to quickly create the highest performing culture for groundbreaking business outcomes.

Equipped with over 30 years of professional and academic expertise, author, speaker, and change agent Mark Samuel helps companies (and the individuals that comprise them) achieve their B State, enabling them to make the necessary changes they didn't think were possible. His strategies for finding and enacting solutions to complex challenges use real life examples to help readers embrace accountability and envision their success in order to achieve the transformation they need. This book focuses readers on where they want to go, and it helps them get there fast.

Written for business executives, managers, supervisors, and leaders at all levels, this is a book about how to not just do business but also live life. It brings about the dynamic forward launch readers are looking for, creating results that are both unprecedented and sustainable.

From the bestselling authors of The Power of Visual Storytelling comes the highly anticipated follow-up, The Laws of Brand Storytelling―the definitive quick-reading rulebook for how to use the power of storytelling to win over customers’ hearts, minds, and long-term loyalty

We have been sharing stories from the beginning of human civilization―for good reason. Stories captivate our attention and build communities by bringing ideas, emotions, and experiences to life in a memorable way. This is proving to be an increasingly potent strategy in the era of the connected digital consumer. With consumers more empowered than ever before, your brand isn’t what you say it is anymore, it is what consumers say it is. As a result, capturing customers’ hearts and minds today requires businesses to prioritize emotional connections with customers, to be in the moment, having authentic conversations, to share relevant, inspiring stories that move and motivate people to take action.

How?

By following these laws:

•The Protagonist Laws: Know Who You Are

•The Strategy Laws: Understand Your Goals

•The Discovery Laws: Find Your Story

•The Story-Making Laws: Craft Your Story

•The Channel Laws: Share Your Story

•The Laws of Engagement: Engage with Your Communities

Packed with inspiring tips, strategies, and stories from two leading marketing innovators, The Laws of Brand Storytelling shows business leaders and marketing professionals the power storytelling has to positively impact and differentiate your business, attract new customers, and inspire new levels of brand advocacy. The authors lay down the law―literally―for readers through a compelling step-by-step process of defining who you are as a brand, setting a clear strategy, sourcing the best stories for your business, and crafting and delivering compelling narratives for maximum effect. Win your customers’ hearts and minds, and you win their business and their loyalty.

The old way of selling is to push a message or product. The new way of selling is to pull people in with a compelling story - one that is magnetic to clients.

Better Selling Through Storytelling helps people become master storytellers so they can truly love what they do and get off the self-esteem roller coaster of only feeling good if their numbers are up. John Livesay encourages listeners to give up selling - and become storytellers instead! He teaches sales representatives and entrepreneurs alike how to become irresistible to their clients and what the best storytelling strategy is to get a yes.

From learning how not to take rejection personally to overcoming the three faces of fear, listeners learn to embrace disruption with new tools that prepare them for any unexpected waves that come their way and how to get the sale.