Jennifer Brown: Diversity and Authenticity
In this episode of Art of Authenticity I had a thoughtful conversation with Jennifer Brown, an entrepreneur, author, and diversity inclusion specialist.
Jennifer Brown is the Founder, President, and CEO of Jennifer Brown Consulting, which a strategic leadership consulting firm on diversity that coaches business leaders worldwide on the critical issues of talent and workplace strategy. She is really passionate, and she advocates for social equality to people in the LGBT community, people of color, women, and millennials.
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Show Notes
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How she went from opera singer to entrepreneur [03:00]
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Why you need to put your full self forward [07:15]
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What authenticity struggles she sees at Fortune 500 companies [12:55]
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Why the book, Inclusion, came to light [19:00]
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Whole Foods and diversity [25:35]
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Her daily habits and practices [48:40]
More About Jennifer Brown
Episode Resources
Radical Responsibility
Today, we’re going to talk about step two on how to build a life of purpose. As I thought about this more and more and more, it started to become clear to me interviewing 50 different people in authenticity, spending several years thinking about authenticity, reading all the greats; Plato, Aristotle, everybody on authenticity.What makes a life with meaning? What makes a life with purpose? What is this all about? It’s actually so complicated. The more I dove into it, the more complicated I realized it was. But then I started to realize, “Maybe it’s not that complicated, it’s just complicated to take it from concept into action.”Thanks for ListeningAgain, thank you so much for your support! Please subscribe to the podcast on iTunes if you haven't already!Episode Resources
Ryan Holiday: How Your Ego Can Block Authenticity
In this episode of Art of Authenticity I had a thoughtful conversation with Ryan Holiday, an author, marketing genius, and media strategist.
At his core, Ryan Holiday is a writer and a media strategist. He dropped out of college to apprentice with Robert Greene (who authored The 48 Laws of Power). He then ran marketing for American Apparel and has since gone on to author five books, one of which is Ego is the Enemy, his latest. Thanks for ListeningAgain, thank you so much for your support! Please subscribe to the podcast if you haven’t already!
Show Notes
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The background of Ego is the Enemy [1:10]
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His specific definition of ego [05:58]
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Ego vs. confidence [07:15]
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How to manage your thoughts [10:30]
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Why focusing on the task at hand can dissolve ego [13:40]
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Where the line is between taking on too much and doing too little [18:10]
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How to figure out what you want [22:05]
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The world is at best indifferent to you [29:10]
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How humility fits into the picture [31:45]
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What an authentic life means to Ryan [37:32]
More About Ryan Holiday
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His book, Ego is the Enemy
Episode Resources
Awareness Re-Defined
We've talked about the broader idea of purpose, but now I want to break down the critical parts of finding your authentic voice and bringing it into the world.This episode is about awareness - you kind of hate it because everything in self-help has to do with awareness. But give me a few minutes...you won't regret it.Thanks for ListeningAgain, thank you so much for your support! Please subscribe to the podcast on iTunes if you haven't already!Episode Resources
Ali Shapiro: Truce With Food
In this episode of Art of Authenticity I had a thoughtful conversation with Ali Shapiro, a health coach and the founder of the Truce with Food ™ method for health coaching and weight loss.
Ali Shapiro is a health coach pioneering a new way to approach food, health and weight loss. She combined her background in functional medicine and holistic nutrition, to create an innovative health coaching method, Truce with Food ™, while at the University of Pennsylvania earning her Masters degree in Organizational Dynamics, with a concentration in coaching and change management.Her work is also informed by her own 18 year weight struggle and teenage cancer diagnosis. This is one interview that you don't want to miss — I learned so much talking with Ali and I
know
you will too.
Thanks for Listening
Again, thank you so much for your support! Please
if you haven’t already!
Show Notes
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Who is Ali Shapiro? [00:23]
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Experience/struggles with weight, body and food [00:36]
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What is her specialization as a coach and her main focus of her work? How she got there? [02:43]
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Master’s thesis subject: words & how we act[05:55]
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Motivation vs inspiration [07:03]
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How people are defining inspiration & what we really need in life [08:44]
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How to approach weight loss & your body goals [10:01]
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Why is food the biggest source of reward in your life? [11:34]
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Carol Dweck on growth mindset [13:15]
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The most meaningful things in life didn’t come easy [13:43]
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‘What is meaningful to me?’ vs ‘What do I think I’m supposed to want?’ [14:00]
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Step #2 in her process – adult development [14:42]
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Why weight can have an impact on confidence, but won’t work as goal [15:20]
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How to feel good regardless of weight [16:25]
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Physical and emotional go hand in hand [20:00]
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Healthcare doesn’t start at the doctor’s office [21:02]
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What does ‘capacity to have independent agency’ mean [22:41]
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Her approach | Experiments [24:56]
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Blood sugar & gut health [25:20]
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Story that makes people keep sabotaging themselves [26:14]
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Discover your own preferences [28:19]
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What does authentic life mean to her? [28:49]
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What she does when she’s stressed or facing fear to prevent her from making ‘bad choices’? [29:50]
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Daily practices that help her navigate success[32:24]
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What you fear persists [35:02]
More About Ali Shapiro
Episode Resources
How Do We Define a Happy Life?
Today I wanted to kick off a new series all about the idea of authenticity. I mean, that's what this show is all about and I figured I haven't exactly spoken to it. I asked my guests about it, but I wanted to dive into it and unpack it over a handful of episodes.So to kick this week off, I wanted to talk about authenticity on the broadest level because this idea, this idea of following a path in your life where you have a life of your making is very, very complicated idea. One that when I set out to do it way back 10-15 years ago I thought would be really simple, figure it out, get there, be happy, and what I found is that this is the most difficult but most important process of my life.So I want to break that down for you; what's worked, what hasn't worked, and what I've learned over those years. Essentially, everyone wants to make good choices that lead to a life that works out in the end, right? We want to make a bunch of choices, who to marry, what city to live in, what foods we eat, whether they're healthy and they get us to the physical shape that we'd like to be in. All sorts of choices. But what does that mean? What does it mean to make a lot of choices that create a life that you're eventually happy about? The problem becomes how we define a life that makes us happy and how to make the choices that land us there.You may try to define your life by looking to friends, family, trusted mentors, for the answers. But the problem is, the only person that can tell you what you want is you. Within all of us is a deeper wisdom that knows what we want, but most of us railroad right over that wisdom in favor of a life that "makes sense" or meets other people's' approval, or give us the hope of fame or fortune. I was that person. I followed the advice of others and I picked a life that wasn't of my own making. I knew that it would bring a life of potential financial freedom, and that was amazing.But the best part about the decision I made was that I knew in the moment that I was making it that wasn't what I wanted. I just rationalized it because it made a ton of sense, and I was successful. The worst part was, I was successful. I built a business, I sold it to a Fortune 500 company. I was an executive in a business of 27,000 employees. But in my heart, at every moment I knew this wasn't the life for me. So even though it made a ton of sense, and even though it met the approvals of so many people, I wasn't happy.So what happened? What happened was I made choices from an inauthentic place and I didn't know it. I made choices that spoke to my logical mind, right? The analytic mind. It made sense, but it just wasn't right for me. So decision after decision, we create a life. Some decisions are small like, "Where do I want to eat dinner?" And some are bigger like, "What relationship do I want to be in? What career do I want to have?" But this is the question, this is ultimately the deciding factor in what creates a life that will bring you long-term, not momentary happiness, but long-term sense of contentment, freedom, joy, that satisfaction.It's asking yourself the question, "Where do my choices come from?" Do they come from approvals? Fears? Judgements that lead to resentments, anger, and sadness? Or do these choices come from my truth? It's that simple; make choices from your truth and you'll build a life, choice by choice, that you love. Doesn't that make sense? It's so simple, but the question is, "How?" Maybe you're just starting out in life and you haven't made a ton of big decisions that have gone in the wrong direction. But maybe you're very influenced by the people around you? The question is, "How do I find that deeper wisdom? Where do I find that truth -- because all of us have it within us -- and start trusting it to make choices from that space?"I don't always get it right. This isn't about suddenly you're making all these amazing choices and they're always coming from this deep authentic place, and you're just feeling amazing all the time. Life is stressful, life is difficult, it can be really, really challenging. The pressure to pay the bills and competing issues with family and children, it can wear you down and you can make decisions out of fear, but that's okay. Once you learn how to tell the difference, to know the difference between the deeper wisdom within yourself, nobody else can tell you the answer but you. When you find that space and you know how to get back to it when you've lost your way, it creates the ability to backtrack and come back to building a life that's meant for you.So I get off course, I make decisions sometimes and I'm like, "What was I thinking? I knew it didn't feel right, but I rationalized it." But the time spent between the decision that got me off track and course correcting, is a lot shorter. So I don't find myself waking up two, three, four years later wondering, "How did I get here?" So the next few episodes are going to be specifically on the how. We're going to cover five steps. Awareness: I know everybody talks about awareness but truly, without it you cannot start this process. It is impossible. So we'll talk about breath and your body and how it has indications and value for beginning this process.The second step is removing blame completely and switching over to total personal responsibility as your life model. The third step is getting out the victim mindset, ditching it completely and recognizing that you have a choice in every moment and how you to switch that framework around in your life. The fourth step is taking action from your truth. Because we don't know anything about ourselves. Life is an endless iteration. So we want to take action, iterate, pivot, keep going. So we'll talk about what that means, and then the fifth step is to learn who you are through that process of taking action, without blame, without victim, with awareness, you're going to start to locate that inner wisdom, you'll find what your talents and joys are because through that action you'll see what works and doesn't work if you know how to function from your deeper self.So you're going to start to learn again how to locate that wisdom and take action from it through action. Finally, living your authentic life. When we get there we learn where the space is and we love making choices and we trust ourselves again, life keeps moving, creating new challenges, really big decisions and choices that can kick all of this stuff back up. So how do you navigate through the storm? Hope you liked this episode. Thank you so much for tuning in. If you have any issues with this, questions about it, feel free to send me a note [email protected], and thank you and listening.Thanks for ListeningAgain, thank you so much for your support! Please subscribe to the podcast on iTunes if you haven't already!Episode Resources
Terri Cole: The Real Love Revolution
In this episode of Art of Authenticity I had a thoughtful conversation with Terri Cole, a psychotherapist, meditation expert,and founder of the Real Love Revolution.
Terri is a licensed New York based psychotherapist, a meditation expert, and founder of the Real Love Revolution. For two decades, she has worked with some of the most well-known personalities from international pop stars, athletes, Broadway performers, TV personalities, and Fortune 500 CEO’s.She empowers over 100,000 women weekly through her published articles, blog posts, therapeutic meditations, courses, and her incredible podcast filled with insane guests, Hello Freedom podcast. Definitely, check it out. For you podcasters out there, I’m sure you’ll love it.
Thanks for Listening
Again, thank you so much for your support! Please
if you haven’t already!
Show Notes
-
Who is Terri Cole? [00:26]
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‘The Real Love Revolution’ and Terri’s perspective on why people who are successful don’t feel love/happiness [03:12]
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What inspired Terri to create ‘The Real Love Revolution’ [03:23]
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Where do you learn what love looks like? [05:43]
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How unsolved issues affect our relationships [08:27]
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How to change the way you are in relationships | Pillar #1 [09:28]
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Pillar #2 [10:50]
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How she decided what she would do with clients [11:43]
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Pillar #3 [16:34]
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Pillar #4 [17:26]
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Where is the toxicity residing and what happens if its unpacked properly [21:05]
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How do you identify the difference between needs being met vs learned ideas of love? [21:39]
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Desire Map by Danielle LaPorte [22:28]
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How to tell your partner that he is not fulfilling needs [25:49]
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Pillar #5 [30:49]
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Bonus Pillar [30:55]
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How to balance 5 love languages when one partner likes one but the other partner doesn’t [32:09]
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Types of singles [44:25]
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Survey results [44:46]
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Things to look at besides ‘family of origin’ [45:59]
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3 attachment styles [46:13]
More About Terri Cole
Episode Resources
From Awareness to Action
If you're out there right now and you have a concern that something isn't where you want it to be, you might ask yourself, "What do I want?"And when you ask that simple question, you immediately start getting this horrible, stressful, anxious feeling. "I don't know what I want." Or, "I try different things, but I can't quite figure it out." Or, "I know what I want, but I'm just so stressedout with the finances, or time, or fear that I can't take action."In this episode, we're talking about how to take the first steps in getting rid of those three obstacles and building a life that's really from your truth. One that's choice after choice designed for you and a life that you love.Thanks for ListeningAgain, thank you so much for your support! Please subscribe to the podcast on iTunes if you haven't already!Episode Resources
Alexi Panos & Preston Smiles: Your Epic Life in Five Steps
In this episode of Art of Authenticity I had a thoughtful conversation with Alexi Panos and Preston Smiles, the founders of The Bridge Method and authors of the upcoming book, Now or Never.As founders of the groundbreaking Bridge Method (which includes their live workshops, and various online training programs), they have created a movement of transformation that has taken humanity by storm through their unique and passion-filled approach to sharing age old wisdom.Using social media as a main source of connection and distribution of their lively educational videos, they’ve built an incredible tribe of loyal fans around the globe who aren’t just inspired by their work, but are empowered by it.
Thanks for Listening
Again, thank you so much for your support! Please
if you haven’t already!
Show Notes
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The idea behind their book, Now or Never [02:50]
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The first step to an epic life [04:45]
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Your "condition tendencies" [07:40]
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Letting go of right and wrong [08:40]
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How everyone has a backpack [10:02]
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Why compassion is the core [13:42]
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Why it's so interesting to peel back on your identity and see what you find [16:45]
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How Alexi and Preston's backstories led to the emergent wisdom movement [21:20]
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How they keep themselves from making inauthentic choices [31:40]
More About Alexi and Preston
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Their upcoming book, Now or Never
Episode Resources
Contribution and Cultivating Your Talents
Today we're going to talk about cultivating your talents, learning how to love what is unique about you, recognizing it, and trying to cultivate that specific skill and give it out to the world. Most of us look around at what other people are doing and wish that we were cultivating their talents, living their life.How do you learn to love what you do and give it out to the world so that they can get the value of what is special and unique about you?Thanks for ListeningAgain, thank you so much for your support! Please subscribe to the podcast if you haven’t already!Episode Resources