With Ari out conferencing in Tennessee, Chris is joined by fellow NEI'er Adam Geltz to talk about their takeaways from Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babbin. They chat about the importance of recognizing when your ego gets in the way of making decisions that are best for the team, how vulnerability and delegation build trust and influence, why you have to be careful where you choose to spend your "leadership capital", where punishment might and might not be the best tool, and why setting expectations and enforcing them is important to help everyone be successful.

If you have a shout-out you’d like us to share, a question or a topic you’d like us to discuss, or a suggestion for a guest we should have on the show, let us know at [email protected]!

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If you have an idea for how you can make our show better, you can let us know by filling out a quick, anonymous survey about our show at ⁠https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/tectalkpod⁠ until Feb 28, 2025.

With Chris busy teaching at NEI's Professional Contemporary Animal Training and Management Workshop, Ari gets some coworker support and is joined by special co-host Adam Geltz and returning guest Shay Gruman! The three talk about how they've each been working on their personal and professional growth outside of NEI, reflecting on how breaking goals into smaller parts can help increase one's rate of reinforcement, the importance of building both active and passive skills, the gift we give others when we intervene less, and what continual growth looks like as people with different backgrounds that are currently in three different levels of the company.

References:

• Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity by Kim Scott
• Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High by Grenny, Patterson, Et Al
• FYI: For Your Improvement - A Development and Coaching Guide by Michael Lombardo and Robert Eichinger
• The HealthyGamerGG Podcast with Dr. K
• The Animal Training Academy Podcast Show with Ryan Cartlidge
• Drinking From The Toiletby Hannah Brannigan
• Jocko Willink - Retired US Navy Seal, Author, Leadership Instructor

If you have an idea for how you can make our show better, you can let us know by filling out our quick, anonymous survey about our show at⁠https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/tectalkpod⁠ until Feb 28, 2025.

Chris is joined by fellow podcaster and all around amazing Kiwi, Ryan Cartlidge, founder of Animal Training Academy! Ryan chats about how a desire for better work-life balance led to exploring non-zoo jobs beyond consulting, how a friend with a recording studio led to ATA's first online course, why it's important for people in the field to "keep their swords sharp," the joy of working with happiness engineers, and why you should thank people when they say "no."

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If you have an idea for how you can make our show better, you can let us know by filling out our quick, anonymous survey about our show athttps://www.surveymonkey.com/r/tectalkpod until Feb 28, 2025.

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References from the show:

• Making Ripples by Animal Training Academy
• Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
• Reptelligence - Reptile Enrichment, Training, and Education

HAPPY 250TH EPISODE, TEC TALK!

To celebrate this fun landmark, Ari and Chris are joined by four amazing people who've had a huge impact on us and our field: Ken Ramirez (Karen Pryor Clicker Training), Steve Martin (Natural Encounters, Inc.), Susan Friedman (Behavior Works), and Tim Sullivan (Brookfield Zoo Chicago)! Our guests talk about how they all met each other (spoiler alert: everyone was intimidated by everyone), reflect on the impact on their lives of the late Karen Pryor, share some of their current biggest peeves/vendettas/crusades, reveal things they are working on about themselves, and give us suggestions for topics and guests for future episodes. It's an incredible talk with incredible people, and our way of saying thank you to our listeners for supporting the show - here's to the next 250!

If you have a shout-out you’d like us to share, a question or a topic you’d like us to discuss, or a suggestion for a guest we should have on the show, let us know at [email protected]!

References from the episode:

Ya'll know the drill by now: you send us an email, you get invited to be on the podcast, and as a result we get to hang out with Katy Kocisko (not Kocinko, Chris), orangutan caretaker at The Center for Great Apes! Katy shares how a school field trip lead to her first internship and full time job at Bearizona Wildlife Park (where she first met the NEI crew when we were consulting there), how a lifelong interest in great apes lead to a big move across the country to our neck of the woods, and the challenges with anthropomorphism when caring for animals that are like us in many ways (and were often someone's pet).

If you have a shout-out you’d like us to share, a question or a topic you’d like us to discuss, or a suggestion for a guest we should have on the show, let us know at [email protected]!

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Big shout-out to our sponsor, Magic Mind! To learn more about how Magic Mind can help you build your "Mental Wealth" and take advantage of a special 45% savings offer, visit ⁠⁠https://www.magicmind.com/thetecjan⁠⁠ during the month of January - thanks Magic Mind!

Boy oh boy, did life decide to life all over us today! Today we had a fun recording planned with the amazing Dr Susan Friedman, founder of Behavior Works... and then a surprise USDA inspection stole Ari away from us and threw everything into a tizzy! Chris did get a bit of time to chat with Susan, and though we decided to push our planned recording down the calendar to later in the year, I did get to record our chat, and at Susan's encouragement we decide to share some of it with you! We are nothing if not flexible, and hey - there's some good stuff in here!

If you have a shout-out you’d like us to share, a question or a topic you’d like us to discuss, or a suggestion for a guest we should have on the show, let us know at [email protected]!

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We also want to thank our sponsor, Magic Mind! To learn more about how Magic Mind can help you build your "Mental Wealth" and take advantage of a special 45% savings offer, visit ⁠https://www.magicmind.com/thetecjan⁠ - thanks Magic Mind!

Ari and Chris are back together to talk about everyone's favorite topic in the professional animal care world: dealing with the grief following the loss of an animal in your care. We share some great advice from others, some old attitudes that we think aren't helpful , and some excellent resources to help all of us deal with the worst part of our jobs. Also, stick around for the end, where we share some quick thoughts about the loss of a foundational leader in the animal training field, Karen Pryor, who passed away on January 4, 2025.

If you have a shout-out you’d like us to share, a question or a topic you’d like us to discuss, or a suggestion for a guest we should have on the show, let us know at [email protected]!

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We're excited to announce the return of our sponsor, Magic Mind! To learn more about how Magic Mind can help you build your "Mental Wealth" and take advantage of a special 45% savings offer, visit https://www.magicmind.com/thetecjan - thanks Magic Mind!

With Chris channeling the year our show was born by being knocked out by COVID, Ari takes the helm for the first podcast episode of the year to chat about all the new webinar, online course, and workshop offerings that NEI has on the books for 2025. Come hang out with us, it'll be a blast!

If you have a shout-out you’d like us to share, a question or a topic you’d like us to discuss, or a suggestion for a guest we should have on the show, let us know at [email protected]!

Ari and Chris are excited to be joined by former NEI'er, secret payroll lover, and reluctant extrovert Lacey Zeno, Curator of Ambassador Animals at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium! Lacey talks about the path that took her from dog training and vet school prep to being Ari's roommate in Dallas (thanks, Amy Robinson!), achieving her goals of working with free-flight birds and elephants, the ins and out of making a huge move with two kids and too many pets, the importance of asking for helping when taking on new responsibilities, the essential role of building relationships with people you don't "need to," and why moving on to new things doesn't change who you are or take away from what you've done. You're doing it, Lacey!!

If you have a shout-out you’d like us to share, a question or a topic you’d like us to discuss, or a suggestion for a guest we should have on the show, let us know at [email protected]!

Thanks to the magic of technology, Chris is joined from the other side of planet Earth by Emma Pearce, Carnivore Keeper and Animal Training Coordinator at Hamilton Zoo in New Zealand! Emma shares her journey through the animal care field in Australasia (including a brief detour into biosecurity), what it's like to be an "animal training committee of one," offers feedback about what it's like to be "pushed" by NEI, and how she's applying her animal training knowledge and skills to the human animals she works with.

If you have a shout-out you’d like us to share, a question or a topic you’d like us to discuss, or a suggestion for a guest we should have on the show, let us know at [email protected]!