The Sage Sayers

When London-based coaches Malvika Joshi and Amy Outterside went on independent travels, they both struggled reconnecting with friends upon their return. “Many had moved on— and I too had changed,” Joshi recalls. And yet few places to meet like-minded people (beyond pubs) existed, even though London’s huge. With few trusting one another at work either, the idea formed to create a supper club, in a neutral location, and from using coaching, storytelling, and curiosity, get groups to connect and bond over a shared want to learn about shared struggles, whether that’s building confidence or slowing down.

Now on its third gathering, the Coven is on a roll and underway. In our delightful conversation, Coaches Amy and Malvika share their journey as entrepreneurs, marketers, and coaches. We also learn how they get strangers to open up with one another—a gift many business leaders feel lost on how to do—and to bond over self discovery and fabulous food.

You can reach the Coven by clicking here and find Malvika on LinkedIn here. Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, group coaching, and training on public speaking fear, active listening, and reinvention via my website, or find me also on Linkedin.

LinkedIn boasts over 1 billion users across 200+ countries and 220 million of those exist in the US alone. But many super smart and articulate professionals struggle building their business or brand there. I get to hear all kinds of blockers from my clients: Fear of seeming stupid, fear of hatred or scorn, fear of seeming 'showy' or smart aleck-y, or just making a big mistake.

In our interview, Coach Xhoni, who's based in San Remo, Liguria, Italy, tells us how he's helped 80% of his clients get inquiries within 3 months, build 6-figure incomes, and sign up hundreds of clients. (He ought to know. He has around 38,000 followers and built his entire business through LinkedIn. I've also built my coaching business through LinkedIn from creating and posting weekly self-curated content on the nuanced communication struggles my clients face.)

We share the blockers we hear from our coaching clients and how to navigate them. And the starting point? Quit judging each other. Create quality content. Have more fun.

You can find and book Coach Xhoni on LinkedIn here. Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, group coaching, and training on public speaking fear, active listening, and reinvention via my website, or find me also on Linkedin.

Almost 50% of U.S. military experience one or more injury each year, according to the Defense Health Agency, and injuries result in 2,000,000 medical encounters annually across military services. The most extreme, deployment-related amputations, are harder to track; but since 2001, the Department of Defense has cared for over 63,000 beneficiaries of some level of limb loss. My guest in this week’s Sage Sayers is Jon Arnold, a San Antonio-based Political Military Affairs Advisor at United States Air Force, who lost his leg when deployed with the U.S. Army and serving in Iraq.

In his brave story, Jon recalls that day, what was on his mind just before the explosion incident which nearly killed him, and his courage as he healed, re-learned to walk, and the mental fitness required to find the gifts and the opportunities within. Because of his injury and the life-changing perspective change that came next, he’s never had a truly bad day since.

Note to our listeners: We prevailed over some audio challenges for this episode. We do plan to re-do.

You can find Jon Arnold on LinkedIn here. Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, group coaching, and training on public speaking fear, active listening, and reinvention via my website, or find me also on Linkedin.

I hear you, dear friends, coachees, and community. Too many requests upon you. Not enough time to get stuff done. And certainly not enough time for the work that really sets you apart. In this week’s Sage Sayer’s podcast, learn tips and tools to say ‘no’ vs. ‘yes’ to the things that bog you down and get in your way of your greater legacy work and your balance, your happy time—your bliss.

Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, group coaching, and training on public speaking fear, active listening, and reinvention via my website, or find me also on Linkedin. Read about Dr. Linda Babcock’s ‘The No Club’ book, and research here.  Find Dorie Clark’s ‘The Long Game’ here and hear Dorie and my wonderful Sage Sayers interview (from Season 1) right here. 

How do we build our confidence as leaders when our heritage and lessons from our elders don’t quite align with the confidence we need and see around us?

Marketing consultant, Barbara Reveron, ponders on this idea when reflecting on how her Puerto Rican parents raised her to do well at work. It’s a delightful conversation which chronicles Barbara’s early days growing up in New York, and how far she’s come since.

You can find Barbara on LinkedIn here. (And know she’s coming back to the show; we only touched the surface of what we wanted to chat about!)

Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, group coaching, and training on public speaking fear, active listening, and reinvention via my website, or find me also on Linkedin.

Meetings can drain most of us. New leaders tasked with connecting and growing their teams endure endless 1:1’s with their team and peer leaders. Without blocked off time for thinking and tasking, empty slots on shared calendars attract invitations like mosquitoes at a nudist beach.

Many find that active listening can help; meaning, listening with all of our senses. Removing distractions and resisting the desire to solve or direct. Also, ensuring we give space for others to think, contemplate, and unlock the answers within.  In this week’s podcast, consider a handful of questions and approaches to build clarity and potency in every meeting from here on. You can read along to this week’s reading if you wish, via Medium.

Thank you to my brave coachees, many of whom have won new teams to lead and asked for tips on how to feel less drained from meeting everyone. This request for help inspired this podcast and musing.

Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, group coaching, and training on public speaking fear, active listening, and reinvention via my website, or find me also on Linkedin.

Like most professionals, PTO brings up mixed feelings for NY-based Head of Technical Program Management, Jessica Pelegio: fear of falling back, fear of burdening others, or fear of a deluge of of work when coming back. The Pew Research Center tells us many professionals in the U.S. do not take their full paid time off for these very same reasons, 

But last month, Jessica took four whole weeks of PTO—and only good things happened. In our interview we learn how she empowered her team, empowered herself, and with dear friends explored 12 countries. Not only was her team perfectly fine when she returned, they’d missed her and her travels inspired her them to prioritize self care and to do the same.

Follow Jessica on LinkedIn by following this link. Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, group coaching, and training via my website, or find me also on Linkedin.

Professionals all over wonder how to introduce themselves, especially to new bosses, teams, or a recruiter — even to new friends. Introductions (done well) become conversation starters, build connections, even elevate our personal brand.

But how do we talk about our work — and life — in ways that stand out and align with our personality and values? And what are the bigger blockers getting in our way. I’m D G McCullough, and in this podcast, I hope to find some answers.

Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, group coaching, and training via my website, or find me also on Linkedin. 

When Silicon Valley-based CTO advisor Suhail Syed tells his dear mother back in India about his work helping companies grow business revenue through using products in the cloud, she looks up to the sky. "She's wondering what’s there," Suhail recalls. This sweet story reminds us of the need to clarify any jargon we use and stay audience centered, too. It’s one of many topics we cover in this week’s Sage Sayers episode.

Join us on a wander through Suhail’s early arrival here in the states from India ("wet behind the ears") as a younger man and finding his way amidst cultural confusion, new beginnings, and a grit that comes when you’re determined to make things on your own. (He found solace through his own ambitions and his Muslim faith.) We share our disdain for jargon and offer some nice alternatives to the popular ones we hear around us.

You can find Suhail Syed on LinkedIn by clicking here. Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, group coaching, and training via my website, or find me also on Linkedin. 

Fear of public speaking has certainly intensified. I first knew this point because my clients kept telling me so. I confirmed the phenomena for sure when I allowed myself recently to feel that intense fear once more, presenting on active listening to a live audience, with a story and a live coaching session within.

My essay and musings on being knock-kneed and terrified in front of a live, high-stakes audience and noticing that once I locked into a story, one relevant to my topic and one with deep meaning to me, most of my fears melted away.

Reading from my essay on Medium, which you can read with me here. Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, group coaching, and training via my website, or find me also on Linkedin.