Uncorking a Story

Early in her career, Karen Mangia followed a very conventional formula for success—say yes to everything, deliver with excellence, and never let them see you sweat. It worked wonderfully for a while, until it didn’t.

At the age of 33, Karen faced an undiagnosed illness—she didn't know what to call it, and neither did a team of five doctors. This forced Karen to reimagine what success means, and at that time success meant getting healthy. When things were asked of her, Karen would pause and ask herself, will this help me achieve my goal? She realized that she could no longer say yes to everything and this her filter changed her life.

Eventually Karen was properly diagnosed, and while her health returned she didn’t abandon her newfound philosophy—instead, she continued to be more selective about the projects she took on and learned how to work through others and lead others more effectively to get work done. Her story was so powerful that she was encouraged to speak about it publicly and that led to someone encouraging her to capturing it in book form.

In Success with Less Karen provides the guidance that we all need to get through the crossroads we all face. For our career, our relationships, our health and our life: what we really need is less than what we imagine. And we won't find what's missing by striving, racing, acquiring and struggling. That's because what we need is inside of us, right now, and this book shows us how to find it.

Learn more at http://successwithless.net/

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Laura Vanderkam helps people spend more time on what matters, and less on what doesn’t.

She is the bestselling author of What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast and Off The Clock, among others. Her 2016 TED talk, "How to Gain Control of Your Free Time," has been viewed more than 5 million times. Her work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Fortune, and other publications.

Her latest book, which will be available for sale on March 12th, is entitled Juliet’s School of Possibilities and is a must read for anyone who struggles with remaining present in the moment, even in the face of outside pressure. It is considered the first parable written for women, by a woman, but that doesn’t mean men won’t get something out of it as well. Pre-order Laura’s book by clicking on any of the bookstores on this page.  

 Enjoy the show!

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Look up the term Renaissance man in the dictionary, and I’m sure you will see a picture of Kevin A Knight. He started his own company and serves as an independent marketing research consultant to many leading global corporations. He’s also an avid runner and said goodbye to his running shoes as a way to reduce pain in his hip and back. Not only did the pain go away, but he gained wonderful insights while he ran.

In Connections in the Raw: Musings of a Barefoot Runner, Kevin chronicles stories and insights from years of barefoot running. He shares his perspective that deep connections exist in our lives between us and the Creator, other people, and with nature, and that we all have access to wisdom that is rewarded to all who will listen. 

When he’s not out for a run or working with a client, Kevin spends his time trying to make the world a better place. He is passionate about education reform, specifically in underserved communities. He has sat on the boards of various schools and spends most Friday mornings reading to third- and fourth-graders at a school near his home in Norwalk, Connecticut because he believes nothing keeps one grounded like visiting schools and interacting with young people. He has been a vegetarian for over three decades and loves reading, martial arts, sports, and the theater. He is active in his church where he facilitates a Bible study group and teaches Sunday school.

Kevin is married to his wonderful, giving wife who is a marriage and family therapist, and they have three adult children, who occasionally go for a run with him—wearing shoes.

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Zaida Alfaro is the youngest of six children and was born into art. Her mother is a painter, composer, and musician who taught Zaida how to play the piano at the age of twelve.  She became a professional musician at eighteen and, having been burned by a bad recording contract, is now an independent recording artist and performer.

As a lover of cozy mysteries, Zaida decided to take her musical experiences and put them on paper. The result is The Last Note: A Miami Music Mystery. In this first novel she combines her background as a musician, her love of her hometown of Miami, and her Cuban culture to spin a tale of music and murder.

In this interview we discuss her early influences as a singer and songwriter, the importance of having faith and support during the writing process, and how perseverance led to her earning a publishing contract with Cozy Cat Press. For more information on Zaida, including where to buy her music and novel, please visit https://www.zaidamusic.com/.

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Tony Pavia is a retired American history teacher and the former principal of Stamford High School, Trinity Catholic High School, and New Canaan High School. Matt Pavia, his son, teaches English and American studies at Darien High School in Connecticut. Together, they collaborated on a book telling the stories of Vietnam Veterans who were from the town of Stamford, Connecticut.

After thousands of hours of research and hundreds of hours of in-depth-interviews with Veterans or, in some cases, relatives and friends of those who died in the war, Tony and Matt conclude that these veterans have often been portrayed in an unfair way through both pop culture and the media. This is not a book of war stories, but one that shows a generation that is much more accomplished than what most give them credit for.

Listen in as we discuss Tony’s personal memories of that period of time including what life was like as a teenager during such a time of cultural change. Matt does a great job explaining how they went about conducting the research for the book as well as the challenges they both faced when cold-calling Veterans and convincing them to share their experiences for the book. What was most fascinating to me about this conversation was hearing how their perceptions of this war and the veterans who served in it were changed as a result of writing this book.

Tony and Matt’s book can be purchased by clicking here, and while it focuses on the lives of Veterans from one small but diverse part of Connecticut, the stories you will read about can be applicable to Vietnam veterans from Anytown USA.  Happy listening.

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Jane Green is the author of nineteen novels, including seventeen New York Times Bestsellers, one cookbook, and various short stories. She is published in over 25 languages and has over ten million books in print worldwide. Even though all of this is true, she still took an hour out of her day to speak with me!

Her latest book, The Sunshine Sisters, was released this past May and is, as People Magazine says, “A warm, satisfying tale about the love that binds even the most dysfunctional of families.”

In our discussion, Jane talks about how she originally wanted to be a visual artist and how her love of reading led her to painting with words—and what an artist she is! Just as I can hear a guitar solo and identify the player, I can read Jane’s words and identify the author. As writers, we all work with the same raw materials (i.e. vocabulary), but Jane can put words together in such a way that the reader not only sees the story but also feels the emotions of her carefully crafted characters. Her books are, truly, works of art.

Our discussion ends with Jane's advice to both aspiring and established authors as she underscores the importance of being well read and why all writers need PHD; persistence, humility, and discipline. Happy Listening!

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Bill McGarvey is the author of The Freshman Survival Guide, a resource for incoming college freshmen to help them navigate their first year away from home. He also has a regular column in America Magazine.

Bill is also an accomplished musician, having written his first song when just eight years old. He’s currently releasing short films to accompany the tracks on his album Beautiful Mess. The film for “Broken Lullaby” can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRcf2v7ig5Y

Additionally, his duo TwoHorseman, takes heavy metal classics and transforms them with an Americana vibe. Check out their version of Judas Priest’s “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF99PtCZBXg

You can pick up a copy of The Freshman Survival Guide wherever books are sold.

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George is a career naval aviator whose thirty years of active duty service included four command tours and five years as a carrier strike group chief of staff. He began his writing career in 1978 with an article in the U.S. Navy’s professional magazine, U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings.

In addition to his Rick Holden thrillers published by Braveship Books, he has written thirteen other books distributed by mainstream publishers, including several bestselling novels in the rebooted Tom Clancy’s Op-Center series, including Out of the Ashes, Into the Fire, Scorched Earth, and Dark Zone.  With his longtime collaborator, Dick Couch, he coauthored the New York Times best seller, Tom Clancy Presents: Act of Valor the novelization of the Bandito Brothers/Relativity Media film.  He is also the author of The Kissing Sailor, which proved the identity of the two principals in Alfred Eisenstaedt’s famous photograph; as well as over three-hundred articles in professional journals and other media.

George has received a number of national and international writing awards, including: the Navy League of the United States Alfred Thayer Mahan Award for Literary Achievement, the Surface Navy Association Literary Award, the Navy League of Australia’s Annual Essay Competition, the Naval Helicopter Historical Association Mark Starr Pioneer Literary Award, and the Military Writers Society of America Silver Medal Award, among others. George speaks frequently at writing classes and seminars including: San Diego State University Writers Conference, La Jolla Writers Conference, San Diego Writer’s Ink, Southern California Writers Association, Coronado Writer’s Workshop, and other venues.

George is the Director of Strategic Assessments and Technical Futures at the Navy’s Command and Control Center of Excellence in San Diego, California.  He and his wife Becky live in Coronado, California. Other than writing thrillers, he likes nothing more than connecting with readers. You can follow him on Facebook and Twitter, and learn more about his books, blogs and other writing on his website: http://www.georgegaldorisi.com/ – especially his “Writing Tips,” – which offer useful advice for all writers from established authors to future best-selling writers.

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Andrew Peterson was born and raised in San Diego, California and graduated with a degree in architecture from the University of Oklahoma. After mentioning to his wife that he was disappointed in much of what he was reading, Andrew accepted her challenge to write something better and started down the roller coaster ride of becoming a published author.

Andrew followed First to Kill, his debut thriller featuring Nathan McBride, with six additional McBride novels, the most recent having been released on July 3rd of this year. Listen in as we discuss Andrew’s perspectives on the industry, his writing process, and the similarities he sees between professional golfers and published authors. He freely shares some great advice for budding authors in this interview so stick with it until the end when he divulges what helped him most in his career, and what he wish he did much, much earlier when he started to write.

You can learn more about Andrew Peterson and his books at https://www.andrewpeterson.com/

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Patricia Fuqua is the founder of Dating Diamonds, a service that empowers women to meet the right man the second time around and is the creator of the 1st Date to Soulmate Program. Since 2008, she’s helped over 500 women meet the right man by designing a personalized plan that she helps them implement. She’s polished the art of relationship in her 40-year marriage to her soulmate husband.

Her clients can be found in major cities including Sydney, Washington D. C., Sacramento, and San Francisco.  She mentors women to use the story of their lives to create the relationship they choose the second time around. She holds coaching credentials from the Academy of Excellence as well as the Wanless Institute and is a certified Matchmaker with the Matchmakers Institute.

Earlier this year her book Second Time Around: How to Date Your Right Man (2018) was published. Her first book, Manifesting Your Soulmate, was published in 2008. Both can be found on Amazon.com. You can reach out to Patricia by visiting her LinkedIn profile.

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