Courageous Introspection Leads to Bold Creativity With Crystal Waddell

“Accomplishing goals is not success. How much you expand in the process is.”

This quote from Brianna Wiest perfectly explains this week’s episode.

This is the first interview I’ve done with a guest in almost a year.

So I’m super excited to share it with you.

Crystal was generous enough to be the first guest to experiment with the new episode format.

We both shared very personal stories from our lives & businesses.

Honestly, this is one of my favorite episodes.

Crystal is a genius SEO Content Marketer and the founder of Collage & Wood.

She is the co-host of the podcast Simple and Smart SEO Show.

You can learn more about her here.

I hope you enjoy this week’s episode!

P.S.

If you’re ready to unlock the doors to the marketing genius inside of you…

…then you’re a perfect candidate for our Immersion Program.

We don’t believe in spoon-feeding people answers.

We believe in giving you the tools & skills you need to discover your own solutions.

So if you’re ready to unleash the storyteller within you then come join us.

Here are the details:

https://tomearl.me/dcminvite

Listen to "Courageous Introspection Leads to Bold Creativity With Crystal Waddell" on Spreaker.

Having The Courage To Ask Bigger Questions With 𝐃𝐫. 𝐁𝐫𝐲𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐜𝐄𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲

Original Air Date: August 10, 2020

Imagine coming home from work only to find that your partner of 7 years has completely moved out of the home you shared together.  

No warning. No note. No discernible reason.  

Just the empty space where that person’s furniture, clothes, dishes, and presence once were. 

Ok. Now let’s jump back one year. 

Let’s say you were to study your ass off for years. You go through the rigorous and grueling process of medical rotations. You walk across the stage to receive your pharmacy doctorate – only to realize less than 1 year later that this profession isn’t for you. 

We all have an origin story. 

These are just two of the life events that this week’s guest, 𝐃𝐫. 𝐁𝐫𝐲𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐜𝐄𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲 shared with us in this powerful episode. 

This interview is personal.  

It is vulnerable.

It is transparent. 

It is real.

𝐃𝐫. 𝐁𝐫𝐲𝐚𝐧 lives the truth that he shares as a holistic life coach, business mentor, and speaker. The core premise of his work is to empower and teach each person he encounters to take control of their mind, body, and life by investing in themselves.

I promise you: you will not regret jumping into this episode. It’ll be a cool pool on a hot summer’s day. 

We got real as we talked about mental health, social justice, neuro-linguistic programming, self-awareness, how to transition from loss, and how to move forward when your world falls out from underneath you. 

Bryan and I also went deep on men and mental health. We talked about how toxic masculinity and patriarchy keep men in an unhealthy box, and how we can break free from that box.

Most importantly, Bryan made sure that he didn’t just speak in the theoretical or philosophical. He shared tools, steps, exercises, and processes you can use to address the issues that were raised in this interview. 

I’m telling you, we went in on this episode. 

Here’s my suggestion: hit play and brace yourself. 

You can learn more about 𝐃𝐫. 𝐁𝐫𝐲𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐜𝐄𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲 through his website; or you can follow him on Instagram

tomearl.me/bm

Listen to "Having The Courage To Ask Bigger Questions With 𝐃𝐫. 𝐁𝐫𝐲𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐜𝐄𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲" on Spreaker.

Bravery is Everything With Kendra Reed

Original Air Date: September 30, 2019

Today’s guest is Kendra Reed of the "Kenny Hearts Life" brand. She’s an ambassador for happiness, self-care, and teaching others to "Heart" their life: all of which we talk about. We also talk about movement, blogging, and the courage it takes to break out of being ‘stuck’ (Kendra shares some personal experiences that she has with this).

Two and a half years ago, she started her journey of self discovery and happiness and has never looked back. In that time, she left a non-beneficial long term relationship, moved from her small hometown in Mississippi to Dallas, and began traveling for the first time, freelance writing, and learning to heal old mindsets.

Kendra’s goal is to empower others, especially women of color, to pursue inner peace, step away from toxic mindsets, and live a full and happy life. 

Join her on Instagram @kennyheartslifeblog, or visit her website.

tomearl.me/kr

Listen to "Bravery is Everything With Kendra Reed" on Spreaker.

Personal Growth, Comedy, and Religion with Ameerah Sanders

Original Air Date: May 4, 2019

We’re joined today by the talented Ameerah Sanders, who spoke with me about her own struggle with depression, self-acceptance, and her journey to becoming a professional comedian. 

I appreciate how Ameerah spoke openly and from the heart. While we did share a lot of laughs (especially since Ameerah is a hilarious comedian), we also took the conversation to some very deep and very real places. You’ll appreciate the insights and truths that Ameerah shares. 

Ameerah Sanders is a standup comic, writer, and filmmaker based in Kansas City, MO. Her comedy comes from her post-9/11 Black Muslim background and her current post-college life. She hopes to connect with other people of color and serve as an example that the life of a Black woman is not inherently political.

She's performed at the Hollywood and Kansas City Improv. She'll be at the Cream City comedy fest in Milwaukee, WI May 9-12th, and Art of Female Comedy Fest June 12th-13th.

tomearl.me/pgcr

Listen to "Personal Growth, Comedy, and Religion with Ameerah Sanders" on Spreaker.

Mindset Matters With Lashana (Ms. West Creative Coach) and Charlese (Girl at The Yellow Desk)

Mindset Matters. 

Simply stated, it’s because your perception is your reality. To combat negativity, you MUST change your thoughts to change your life.

On this week’s episode, we move beyond all the mindset cliches and what you think you know about it while we take a deep dive into the importance and methods of cultivating thoughts needed for a better and more successful life. 

I’m joined by two brilliant guests: LaShana aka Ms.West Creative Coach and Charlese - Girl at The Yellow Desk.

LaShana and Charlese share their personal stories and journeys, along with how they’ve learned to pivot, grow, and succeed despite life’s twists and turns. 

We also talked about how to build meaningful relationships, especially with your customers and the importance of active listening and research so that your audience feels seen and heard. 

Most importantly, we explored the way motivation follows movement and we covered what to do if you’re feeling stuck, burnt out, lost or frustrated so you can turn it around.

Charlese Latham is known as the Girl at the Yellow Desk. She was an entrepreneur in the beauty industry for over 20 years, but her inspiring story of resilience tells us how a devastating accident led to early retirement of the only career she knew and starting over again with a new business and life, with more success than ever.

Her strengths are Copywriting and Content Creation, especially for course launches and she absolutely loves to support other female entrepreneurs by taking away their overwhelm during busy launch seasons with her 3 steps to a 5-figure course launch system.

She’s been published in Entrepreneur.com, featured in Self Magazine, interviewed on dozens of podcasts, spoken on several summits, worked with multiple 6 and 7 figure client launches, is about to release her book, and has recently launched her very own course: Plan Your Best Launch, Ever!

You can connect with Charlese on Instagram @GirlattheYellowDesk and use the link in her profile to grab her FREE Social Media Templates for a 5 Figure Launch.

LaShana West aka Ms. West Creative Coach has been serving in the mental health field for over 20 years.  This is where she learned the importance of having true compassion and engaging in servant leadership.  All of these learning opportunities have positioned her to serve and step into a new direction by helping others in the creative and entrepreneurial field.  

With the mental health background coupled with the business acumen LaShana is able to help the "whole person".  LaShana believes that past unresolved trauma and imposter syndrome is a common barrier for most people no matter if you're a 9-5er or entrepreneur.  But with support and accountability you can do ANYTHING that your heart desires!

You can connect with LaShana on her website: www.mswestcreativecoach.com or text the word ‘Mindset’ to 678-336-7756 and she’ll send you her best tips!

👉 I promise you, THIS is an epic episode, you won’t be the same after. 

🎧 Listen HERE.

Listen to "Mindset Matters With Lashana (Ms. West Creative Coach) and Charlese (Girl at The Yellow Desk)" on Spreaker.

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3 Stories of Failing and Getting Back Up

Today I’m sharing 3 very personal stories where I failed, big time. 

I mean, these weren’t those “Oops, I used salt instead of sugar” kind of failures. 

They were “Down on the ground, will I get up from this?” total failures. 

Talking to you about these life stories and processing them again… allowed me to uncover the meaning and the hidden gems I couldn’t see while I was going through it. 

Thank you for letting me share the experience with you.

If you’re experiencing failure, setbacks, roadblocks… I hope you’ll gain something from these stories I’m sharing in this week’s episode. 

[This is where I’m supposed to insert a cliche quote about how “it gets better” or “it is all worth it.” but I can’t because in the end, failure is always a punch to the gut.]

Unfortunately:

The more risks you take…

The bolder you live…

The more you put yourself out there…

The more often you’ll get that failure gut punch. 

I don’t know if it necessarily gets better or easier, but I’m working on learning more and more how to react in the seconds after the failure hits me. 

Maybe it’ll help you get stronger reaction muscles too.

Let’s do this. 

Hit play. ▶️ 

Listen to "3 Stories of Failing and Getting Back Up" on Spreaker.

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Compassion, Curiosity & Deep Meaning With Fiona Harvey and Tasneem Noor

Where are you going deeper in your life?

What’s a journey you are willing to take through all of life’s ups and downs? 

This episode kicks off a new series that sets out to explore these very questions. 

Each month I’ll be sharing with you two people who will give us a peek into what depth looks in their lives. 

And most importantly...what fuels that drive for them.

This week I introduce you to Tasneem Noor and Fiona Harvey. 

Both Tasneem and Fiona are moved by their meaningful and personal missions they are sharing with the world, and now you.

In 6 words or less, Tasneem describes herself as: “Sincere. Curious. Compassionate. Spiritual. Adaptive. Authentic.”

In 6 words or less, Fiona describes herself as: “Compassionate. Empathetic. Driven. Joyful. Humorous. Intentional.”

On this week’s episode,  they each explore how compassion and curiosity are important values to take with you on any journey of depth. 

Are you ready for this deep dive?

Let’s do it. 

 Learn more about Tasneem here.

 Learn more about Fiona here.

Listen to "Compassion, Curiosity & Deep Meaning With Fiona Harvey and Tasneem Noor" on Spreaker.

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What Makes You Come Alive?

“Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” -Howard Thurman

Not only is this one of my favorite quotes but it is also the prompt for this week’s writing workshop episode. 

Here’s the backstory: 

I was an art major for my first 2 years in college.  It was amazing, and I met a lot of remarkable people. 

One of those people - Jordan Bierma - DMed me and asked if I “would be interested in participating in a storytelling project with my high school students.”

He shared that, “I work at a very small rural public school that follows an expeditionary learning model...With covid this year we have not been able to leave school and interact with anyone outside our small community of about 600 people.” 

I thought this would be amazing. 

Rather than focusing the entire time on myself, I suggested that instead I could host a writing workshop. 

This week’s episode is the recording of the creativity and honesty that transpired. 

I want to thank Jordan and the brilliant students at Silverton High School for being open to sharing their writing with all of us. 

Look - this is a crazy time for all of us. 

Getting centered on this question, “what makes you come alive,” is of paramount importance. 

I’d love for you to give yourself the gift of going through this workshop. 

You will come out the otherside with some newly discovered personal insights. 

Be sure to email or DM me your writing! 

I’d love to read it!

Listen to "What Makes You Come Alive?" on Spreaker.

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7 Negotiation Strategies (That Build Relationships & Get You Your Yes)

Whenever I play the “what superpower would you pick” game - my answer is always: to speak every language in existence.

If I could choose a superpower it would be to speak every language in existence.

Imagine being able to effectively communicate with every single person on the planet.

This usually sets me up nicely for the joke, “well Tom, you can barely effectively communicate in English, why don’t you start there.”

Cue the laughter. 

Whether you are a marketer, activist, creative, educator or you’re just living your daily life - the ability to communicate with influence has a huge impact on our lives.

Negation is a particular form of communication that carries a lot of stress, and sometimes even baggage.

Usually you’re negotiating in stressful situations, and for many people it may even feel that you are in an unbalanced relationship within the negotiation.

While the ability to negotiate is such a crucial skill, most of us are never given any formal training in negotiation.

At the heart of negotiation is empathy, active listening and relationship building.

This is certainly contrary to the stereotype of what we think of when we think of negotiations.

Another misconception is that the tools of negotiation aren’t particularly complex or tricky.

Like all things they do require practice to hone your skill but the concepts can be grasped fairly quickly.

On this week's episode, we are going to explore 7 core negotiation strategies. 

This episode originally aired a few years ago. 

And so, I can share that I’ve received many emails from folks on how this episode really had a huge impact on their lives.

We’re going to explore ways to use negation beyond business as well as within your personal life and relationships.

I’d love to know what your biggest takeaway is! 

Enjoy! 

Listen to "7 Negotiation Strategies (That Build Relationships & Get You Your Yes)" on Spreaker.

If you'd like to learn more about T.H.E. Celebration Academy.  Here's 30 days of Free Membership.

Living Your Most Pleasurable Life With Kimra Luna

Imagine you have a million dollar business. 

Imagine you have a multi-million dollar business that took you years to build.  

Everyday you get to empower amazing people.

You’re living the dream. 

And loving it. 

Until one day - you’re not. 

Inside you start to feel a calling to serve a new mission. 

That inner-voice grows until it becomes a choir singing it is time to change direction. 

Would you have the courage to walk away from this super successful company that has brought you notoriety, wealth, and an enormous audience? 

This was the crossroads this week’s guest, Kimra Luna, found herself about a year ago. 

If you Google ‘Kimra Luna’ you’ll find a number of articles, including Forbes and Business Insider, detailing Kimra’s journey from “Welfare To $1M [Business Owner].”

As someone who has been in the entrepreneur community for a decade, Kimra’s name was one of the first you’d come across when looking for tips to start your business. 

A few months ago, I was on Facebook and saw Kimra post a Google drive folder that gave everyone complete access to her entire course curriculum, modules and resources. 

Previously you would have paid thousands of dollars to access this kind of content from Kimra. 

And now - it was all there - with the message from Kimra that she is leaving the business coaching world and embarking on her new mission a cosmic sensuality coach and pleasure activist.

I immediately messaged Kimra asking if she’d be open to sitting down for an interview to share her story and her journey. 

As you meant imagine - this turned out to be one of my favorite interviews of all time. 

Yes - Kimra shares details on what led to her decision. 

But the majority of this episode goes all in on the vital, important, and necessary mission and business that Kimra has launched. 

We talked about healing from trauma, sex, love, relationships, music, sensuality, self-love and activism.  Topics she covers every week on her podcast and Youtube channel.

Kimra took a deep dive into the core component of her new signature program - 30 Days of Slowing The Eff Down - and you discover your deepest desires, connect with your personal pleasure and shed the shame so you can channel your inner creatrix and live the life you deserve. 

I’m telling you - this episode is a must-listen!

Please do yourself the favor if absorbing the knowledge, compassion and tools Kimra openly shares during this episode. 

Alright.  This was the longest writeup ever - I know. 

Time to stop reading and start listening. 

Hit play.

Here we go.  

You can find her works at kimraluna.com or on Instagram at @kimraluna

Listen to "Living Your Most Pleasurable Life With Kimra Luna" on Spreaker.

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