Trigger alert: this episode covers an intense and heavy topic that may be extra sensitive for some, especially if you are feeling under-resourced.

Emily Romano is a life coach who specializes in subconscious reprogramming - especially related to trauma and anxiety. Emily has been a friend for several years and I’ve greatly admired her bravery and vulnerability in sharing her experiences and lessons from escaping a relationship with a narcissist.

Narcissism is one of the most damaging personality disorders to relationships, families, company cultures, and society as a whole. I strongly believe we need to talk about these matters to better equip ourselves from being in relationships with, working for, or voting for narcissists.

Emily and I both answered these three questions:

* What are some common traits of narcissists? 

* How are men and women narcissists different?

* What steps can you take to prevent being hooked again by a narcissist? 

Links:

Emily’s website

Emily’s Instagram

Ashley Connell is the CEO and founder of the Prowess Project, a cause-based business that works with women who’ve been out of the workforce to become online business managers (OBMs) for entrepreneurs and small businesses. She is an espresso shot of energy, a heart-based entrepreneur, and a visionary.

I had the privilege of being on Ashley’s webcast, so I was honored to have her on to talk about passion and productivity. Ashley and both answered the following questions:

* What is the relationship between passion and productivity?

* How do you harmonize the energy of passion and the discipline of productivity?

* What is the best tip for finding your passion? What is a current productivity hack you've learned?

Links

Website

LinkedIn

Free Workshop, the OBM Opportunity starting May 15

OBM University 

YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl6nqYT0AIBaIsCInSC2Qrg

As the founder of the Herizon Music Foundation, Thea Wood is a dynamic force and a powerful voice for women in the music business. Thea and her foundation are taking on gender disparity in the music business by creating a platform for promoting female artists as well as bringing advocacy and awareness.

In our discussion, Thea and I both answered the following:

* Why is misogyny still have such a presence in the music business?

* What are some social conditionings/biases that impact women artists the most?

* Who are some current women artists that you’d love to see have a big stage moment?

Thea’s Recommended Artists

Amethyst Jonquille

The Tiarras

Karina Rykman

My Recommended Artists

Nat Price

Kaitlin Butts

Lori McKenna

If you would like to highlight a woman artists, please mention her and post a link in the comments.

Thea’s Links

Herizon Music Foundation

Facebook

Instagram

Douglas Ferguson is the CEO and founder of Voltage Control, a firm that develops and certifies independent and internal facilitators. I’ve known Douglas for about 8 years. He is one of the most multi-dimensional leaders I know - insatiability curious, intensely compassionate, a perpetual student of life, society, and innovation.

Like many guests on the show, he and I could have talked about a lot of different things but settled on AI. We both answered the following questions:

* Is AI a threat to your industry or business model?

* How can AI be used as an innovation/growth tool?

* What are you most optimistic about related to AI?

Links:

Douglas’ LinkedInDouglas’ book (free if you have Kindle Unlimited!)

The Byron Reece book I mentioned

Danielle Grant is a multi-dimensional spiritual guide who brings a variety of frameworks and resources to help people re-discover their soul and True Self. Danielle is also the creator of an excellent prompted journaling tool, The Journal Playbook.

For this episode, I wanted to focus on an often misunderstood topic: Self Love.

Danielle and I both answered these questions:

* How do we discern between self love and self absorption (narcissism)?

* How do we balance acceptance of flaws and commitment to growth?

* What are some starting points for a self love practice?

Links:

Danielle’s Instagram

The Spiritual Room

Luke Bricker is an ordained minister, spiritual director, and certified meditation teacher. I discovered Luke about four years ago and was on his podcast a few times - including my first ever public sharing of why I left my church.

Luke is one of who I call the New Mystics. He is a thinker, seeker, and gentle agitator for anyone reconsidering their relationship with faith, religion, and spirituality.

The topic of our discussion was Inter-Spirituality, and we both answered the following questions:

* Do you believe there are root truths that all paths lead to?

* What is limiting about monotheism and/or following a singular doctrine?

* What is a belief that you are currently challenging/testing?

Links

Website

Instagram

Denise Malkoon is a heart-centered entrepreneur and holistic health advocate. She is co-founder of Americano Foods (makers of delicious and natural nut butters) and a certified yoga instructor. And a great friend! Denise always brings a bright light and a curious mind - and often a free jar of nut butter!

Since she sits at the intersection of entrepreneurism and BYMM (breathwork, yoga, meditation and movement), I thought it would be a fascinating conversation. And I was right!

We both answered these questions:

* How have your BYMM practices influenced you as an entrepreneur?

* What's something that's misunderstood about BYMM by most entrepreneurs?

* What are some simple starting points?

Links:

Americano Foods

Denise’s LinkedIn

Fereshta Ramsey is a relationship coach, transformation coach, and speaker. I met Fereshta through the Consciousness Leaders consortium of which Virginia and I are members. I’ve admired her kind and calm approach to being in the world. Although we’ve never met in person, her gentle, enthusiastic energy is comforting to be around.

In this episode, we discussed “Jumping in heart first”. We used a slightly different format where I asked this foundational question: What are some of the biggest emotional or spiritual risks you've ever taken? We then each answered this question for relationships, purpose, and adventure.

Links:

Website

Instagram

Mark Gladmon is a Benedictine monk based in Australia. Known by his Insta nomenclature “Monkindocs”, Brother Mark and I share similar beliefs and both wrestle with what to call ourselves as it is related to our faith.

The topic of our discussion was Re-branding Jesus. This was partially inspired by the multi-million dollar ad campaign funded by evangelical billionaires to "re-introduce Jesus" - starting with a Super Bowl ad.

Mark and I talked through the following questions:

* What's the biggest misconception that both traditional Christians and non-Christians have about Jesus?

* What would Jesus' message be in contemporary language and context?

* Who is Jesus' biggest competitor?

Links

Mark’s Instagram

Mark’s website

Rose Fass is the founder of fassforward. For the past decade, she has been a mentor, friend, and advisor. I have had the privilege of witnessing many times her legendary ability to get leaders talking in meaningful, productive ways.

We’ve had dozens of conversations that are similar to the one you will hear in this episode - meandering, thoughtful, and humorous. For this episode, we focused on the topic of “The Leadership Conversation”, which is also the title of her new book - and we both answered the following:

* Why are conversations leadership moments?

* Are conversations a skill or a natural gift?

* In today's sensitive climate, how do you have tough conversations?

Links

fassforward

“The Leadership Conversation” book