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Nisha Lehmann with Confidential Conversations

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Nisha Lehmann with Confidential Conversations
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Confidential-Conversations-logoNisha Lehmann with Confidential Conversations does UX Design by day, and is a Mental Health advocate by night.

Helping people find communities around mental health issues by facilitating anonymous online peer led support groups.

Confidential Conversations is an app that offers peer led online support groups for a wide array of mental health issues that is anonymous, affordable and available.

Follow Confidential Conversations on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for High Velocity radio.

Stone Payton: [00:00:15] Welcome to the high velocity radio show where we celebrate top performers producing better results in less time. Stone Payton here with you. This is going to be a fantastic conversation. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast with confidential conversations. Ms.. Nisha Lehmann How are you?

Nisha Lehmann: [00:00:37] I’m great, thanks for having me.

Stone Payton: [00:00:39] Stone Oh, I have really been looking forward to this discussion and I think the topic of the day, the broad stroke is, is mental health. But maybe share with our listeners a little bit about mission purpose. What are you out there trying to do for people.

Nisha Lehmann: [00:00:57] Trying to save the world? No. Well, kind of. Basically, this app stemmed from a very dark period in my own life. I think anyone that has struggled with mental health issues can relate to feeling alone, isolated, feeling like you have no place to turn. And and even if you do want to talk to someone about your problems, you know, the closest people to you, they can’t sympathize or understand you the right way or the same way because they’re not experiencing what you’re experiencing. And I think the realization, the kind of aha moment came for me when I really needed to connect with people who were going through the same thing, who are going through depression or anxiety or grief or whatever it is, right? Because those people, you already have a baseline for the conversation. You don’t have to explain or justify or try to wish your feelings away or something. I mean, when talking to people that are experiencing what you’re experiencing, you can be more raw, be more authentic, and I think get get more concrete steps in terms of help. And so what I really wanted to accomplish with this app was to be able to facilitate online support groups that are completely anonymous, because that for me was incredibly important. I still, unfortunately, really believe in the stigma around mental health. I think it’s there for a lot of mental health issues, although it’s it’s dying down for some.

Nisha Lehmann: [00:02:30] But I think it’s it’s it’s a big inhibitor in talking about mental health. And so having a place where you can go that, you know, is a safe space that is completely anonymous, that it’s private. Now, we cannot nor will we ever collect PII data about our customers or about our users, because this is this is your own it’s your own private issue. And we absolutely respect that. But being able to connect with others who are experiencing the same thing you are and hopefully be able to walk away a little bit more educated a little bit more, or at least having a bit of the pressure relieved on you that you’ve at least talked to someone, You’ve gotten some ideas, maybe some routines, things to try that a therapist would never be able to tell you, because it’s not as if every therapist has gone through what you’re going through as well. So I think I think there’s an incredible potential for success in this space. And honestly, the goal for me was to create it for others like me who were struggling at that time, who were struggling and continue to struggle, I would say, with with mental health related issues in a in a small effort or small steps toward recovery.

Stone Payton: [00:03:39] So have you observed any interesting dynamics or shifts with with regard to pre and post pandemic?

Nisha Lehmann: [00:03:50] For sure, I think the pandemic well, I don’t have to say this. Probably the pandemic did a number on all of us, right? Yeah, I think isolation and loneliness were never really classified as mental health issues until after the pandemic. But of course, if you can’t leave your house or you have to distance from people, that really impacts your ability to be social, your ability to really connect with others. So for sure, pre, pre and post pandemic, you saw a lot of issues related to work, specifically burnout, stress, panic attacks, high anxiety. I mean, but that was probably existing pre-pandemic as well. But you really saw it come to a head post-pandemic when people started leaving their jobs in the great resignation. They were not going to tolerate the work life balance. They were not going to go back to how things were, you know, and if it means making less money, but being able to shut off your computer at five and spend time with your family or spend time working on your passion projects, that became more important. And I think that’s an incredible step for people and for employers to also learn that actually mental health is is is a real issue when it comes to employees in the workforce. Beyond that, I think. There are a number of mental health issues that really came to the forefront. You know, grief. It’s it’s I mean, I never thought of it myself as a mental health issue. For me, it’s it’s something that you will experience at some point in your life.

Nisha Lehmann: [00:05:15] Everyone will experience grief because at some point you will lose someone close to you. And you know, what does that feel like and how can you cope with that and how differently people cope with That is what I found so interesting. But that’s a big one post-pandemic, because of course we all know someone who we either lost someone ourselves in the COVID pandemic or we know someone who experienced loss during the COVID pandemic. So, I mean, it wasn’t a small number of people that died during this pandemic. So, I mean, I think grief was a really big one as well. And also the ability to shut off the the ability to be able to have addictions that are completely unorthodox now in addiction to your screen, addiction to mobile phones, addiction to social media, and the kind of also the meanings and the stigma that comes around being attached to the number of followers you have, the number of likes you get on a particular post. I think all of these are only going to proliferate in the future. And so I think it’s just we have to be cognizant and mindful of the fact that social media is a platform, but it’s not an integral really part of our lives and we need to be able to turn it off and live our lives. And so I think maybe those would be some of the takeaways. Pre post.

Stone Payton: [00:06:30] Yeah, well said. You mentioned employers and awareness. Are there some actions employers, mid-level managers inside larger organizations can take or or things that they should be reading or keeping in in mind to to help this?

Nisha Lehmann: [00:06:51] I’m so glad you brought this up. It was it’s such a fantastic segway. So I actually just wrote a piece of thought leadership specifically about this, about what employers can do when it comes to mental health, what they should be doing. A lot of studies have been released specifically on the ROI of investing into your, investing into mental health, investing into resources for mental health. I think the biggest thing that managers or people in in, let’s say, positions of power can do is try to stem cultural cultural shift in the organization, because that actually has a very, very low monetary cost. But if you can make the workplace a safe place for people to be able to talk about what they’re feeling without feeling like there’s retribution to that action, I know I know a lot of people in large and large consulting firms, in large enterprises, they feel like they can’t talk about mental health because if their manager finds out that they have depression or if their manager finds out that they are struggling with something, then they think it will impact negatively their career. And so being able to really foster a work environment that is that where it’s okay to talk about these things and where managers can kind of recognize when when one of their employees or when one of their team members is is going through a mental health problem, I think is also a huge a huge step in the right direction. So if you want to know more information about this, please visit the website config convos and you’ll find some thought leadership there on some ideas about this.

Stone Payton: [00:08:25] So this app you were describing, I’m operating under the impression that it provides anonymity, but the structure in I’d like to get that validated, but the structure is like these peer led kind of it’s sort of a peer to peer thing isn’t it.

Nisha Lehmann: [00:08:41] Exactly. Yeah. It’s peer led online support groups. Exactly. And it’s an interesting point you bring up because, you know, these discussions are not really facilitated by any moderator or, you know, anyone else. One, because we want to protect the privacy of the people in the group for sure. I mean, it doesn’t make sense to have a moderator that isn’t experiencing the same things that you are just listening to the conversation. But we wanted it to be a bit more free flowing as well because it can be difficult to talk through these things. And I think if there’s a moderator pushing you to talk about these things, the conversation becomes kind of fake. It becomes a bit superficial. People have to be able to on their own terms as they become comfortable with the dynamic of the group, as they become comfortable within within their the frame of their own mental health issue, or as they become become more aware or they recognize and aware they are on the mental health spectrum, they need to be able to talk about these things on their own. And I know for sure being a bit more introverted myself, it was very hard for me to do this. And the first many in the first couple of sessions, I was just listening. I was just listening to what other people were experiencing, what other people were going through, smiling and nodding and trying to kind of be brave to talk about this myself, because it can be a huge step for people. Who really come in a way, come clean, write, admit that they have a problem and talk about it out loud with others. It’s it’s a big step and it can’t be pushed or forced in any way. And so we want people to get there on their own terms. And that’s why we kind of wanted the conversation to be a bit more free flowing and unstructured. And from there, you know, we take into consideration what we do with that in the next steps.

Stone Payton: [00:10:28] So it’s one thing to build an app, clearly another to get a critical mass of people utilizing it in returning their learning back to the organization so you can continue to improve and and enhance it. How did you crack that code?

Nisha Lehmann: [00:10:47] It’s a work in progress. It’s definitely not complete for sure, and I think we don’t really have that many users. And I will say very bluntly from the beginning, you know, the goal of launching this app was not to have 5 million users or even 500,000 users. This app is designed for the people who need it. It’s designed for people who want to explore on their own terms, their own mental health, or they can’t afford a therapist for whatever reason. And they want to still get proactive about doing something in terms of their mental health. And so I think it’s not for everyone to be sure, but the people that use it, I believe, find value in it because they’re using it for their own intents and purposes. And they’re they’re exchanging with each other. They’re trying to learn from each other. And whatever learnings we can get because we cannot be involved with every single group, right? So we can only take the learnings from the groups that we’re actually in because we designed this selfishly, we designed this app also for us for, for the like for, for me and my team. We, we needed this outlet ourselves too, because we, we all found ourselves kind of struggling with mental health issues around the same time. And so we can bring feedback about app performance and how to improve things and how to make this more fruitful for our users. And we’ve already gotten a lot of really good ideas and suggestions from users that just interact directly with us through the website or through through the app itself. But I think there’s a lot more to do.

Nisha Lehmann: [00:12:30] I mean, what I will say about the app is that it’s pretty barebones. It’s not very fancy. It’s much more substance over style, I would say. So the UX is it definitely can be improved. I would say it’s definitely not perfect, but the point of this app was to get it out there as soon as possible. So we had to do a lot of prioritization in terms of figuring out what functionality did we really like was must have in the app and what could wait. And so for us being able to facilitate the conversations, being able to do it in a way that’s private, being able to make the app accessible and affordable to those people who simply can’t afford a therapist or professional help, those are really the key drivers to get this out the door. And, you know, we take we take what we can and we definitely want to do a lot more with it. So be looking out for the next version of this where we integrate, we integrate some multimedia, There’s some incredible games that we’re that we’re thinking about, including into a like a digital library, because I think we I also truly believe that games are the future when it comes to mental health treatment and mental health sourcing. So being able to really experience an immersive and immersive multimedia content that where the avatar actually struggles with a mental health issue, but it’s not some kind of caricature of the mental health issue. That for me is really the next step in terms of trying to make this a bit more progressive and a bit more intuitive for our users.

Stone Payton: [00:14:04] Well, and I think you’re up to the task because you’re in UX design by your daydream, right?

Nisha Lehmann: [00:14:11] Yeah, Yeah, exactly. That’s that’s what I do every day. Yep. So, I mean, it’s, it’s definitely, I mean, shame on me that the UX is not brilliant on the first go around. But like I said, we were in a rush. And if you want the UK to be very, very, very good, then it takes a long time to get that right. And my, my clients and myself will tell you that it’s a it takes a while to do this and there’s always improvements and iterations that come later. So I think the beautiful thing about app development is that you can iterate on it so you can get out one kind of almost proof of concept out the door and then build on it and improve things and add features granularly rather than having to have a full blown new app that’s completely redesigned or something. So that’s, that’s the strategy that we’re using and hopefully you’ll see some changes coming up with it.

Stone Payton: [00:15:02] I’m an entrepreneur. So many of our listeners and our clients at Business RadioX are entrepreneurs. Do you find that there are mental health? I don’t know what the right word is issues, topics, dynamics that are unique or more prevalent in the entrepreneurial community. Can you speak to that a little bit?

Nisha Lehmann: [00:15:28] That’s an interesting question. I don’t know if it’s specific to entrepreneurs, but there’s definitely a subset of mental health issues that are specific to high stress jobs. What what people don’t often think about is having financial duress, which I think every entrepreneur has experienced at some point that has incredible ramifications on your mental health, you know, because you’re constantly having to deal with the pressures of. I want to follow this dream and I want to be able to give back something. But I also need to pay the bills. You know, I’ve got I’ve got financial obligations in my house to my family, to my kids, whatever. And that can cause a lot of stress, which, of course, is a well-established mental health issue. So there are definitely a few that I can think of that that definitely lean more toward the entrepreneurial space. You know, I mean, I don’t want to make light of this too much, but also, you know, VC funding and things like that typically goes more to men than it does to women in this space as well. And so I think there’s an inherent gender bias that exists in the entrepreneurial space as well, where where if you’re competing directly with a man and you have the same idea, it’s unlikely that you would get funded simply because of your your sex. And so there’s also these things to take into consideration as well. No, specifically for women entrepreneurs, I think that’s why there are so many organizations specifically devoted to promoting female entrepreneurship, because this is a recognized problem, and I hope it’s changing given all of the the movements we’ve had within, you know, female, you know, female rights and pay parity for women and things like this. But I hope it’s moving in the right direction and I hope this becomes a thing of the past soon.

Stone Payton: [00:17:20] Now, am I remembering my notes correctly that you have a radio show of your own, don’t you?

Nisha Lehmann: [00:17:27] I don’t know. That’s not me. Okay, I don’t. I don’t have time for a radio show and maintenance.

Stone Payton: [00:17:36] See me after class. We’ll get you set up.

Nisha Lehmann: [00:17:38] So. Fantastic. Yeah. You know, I mean, I think it would be an interesting. I mean, the number of people that have said, you know, you should do a podcast of your own. It’s more than a handful, but. What? What people don’t tell you is how time consuming it is. It is an incredible I mean, I think you, you and your team, they do an amazing job because the amount of research that goes into these episodes and being able to ask tailored questions specifically around particular topics, it’s not easy. And yeah, between between a full time job and the app and other things. No, there hasn’t been enough time to to add a podcast on top of that, but maybe one day in the future.

Stone Payton: [00:18:18] Yeah, maybe. And I will tell you, it’s a lot of fun. And for me personally, there’s there’s just so much I don’t know, the questions come pretty easily so maybe fun is the that’s okay.

Nisha Lehmann: [00:18:32] So maybe then it is right for me because I don’t know that much either. So maybe then it’s okay.

Stone Payton: [00:18:39] So in your career and in in this pursuit, have you had the benefit of a mentor or to to help you navigate some of this terrain, or is it pretty much been been you?

Nisha Lehmann: [00:18:55] Well, in terms of the app development itself and just generally in my career, yes, I think it’s incredibly important that women help other women, especially in the tech field, because there’s it’s sounds so cliche to say it, but it’s still true. There are so few of us actually working in the tech field and trying to do things in the digital space. That mentorship becomes incredibly important. And one of the things I actually am thinking about is to is, you know, what what impact does this have on your mental health, people who have mentors versus the people who don’t? Hmm. But in the mental health space, it’s hard it’s hard to find this. You know, it’s hard to find. I mean, I’m thinking about the equivalent of like a sponsor or something like this. I think it’s I think it’s hard to find it because so many people are just kind of unsure about where they sit when it comes to having good mental health versus poor mental health. And it’s what I think people need to realize is, is that it’s not binary. It’s a spectrum. You know, you can have you can be in the 3% of individuals that have absolutely no mental health problem. But that’s pretty rare. Everyone is struggling with something and it’s okay to struggle with something. The problem is when that struggle kind of overtakes you and then you can’t get the help that you need for whatever reason. Whether that help is a therapist or an online support group or whatever it might be. Right. And so honestly, the point of this app was really just to give people another option. I think in the mental health space specifically, it’s it’s really kind of binary. It’s like you have a mental health problem or you don’t.

Nisha Lehmann: [00:20:33] And if you do, you see a therapist and that’s really it. And if you can’t afford a therapist or you, there isn’t one you know that you like or it’s not the right thing for you. There aren’t really a lot of other options other than to ignore the mental health problem. And we all know what happens when you do that. So hopefully this app will just allow people another choice where they say, okay, well, maybe I’m fine now, but maybe one day, you know, I may need to talk to someone and not a professional, but just someone like me, someone struggling with with issues like me. And I think it’s particularly important when you talk about Gen Z and you talk about Gen Alpha and the next generation’s right, because they’re going to be struggling with mental health issues that we, you and me, cannot understand. You know, the cyberbullying, the cache, the gaslighting, the catfishing, you know, these things that are relatively new, I would say. I mean, to Gen Xers like myself, but they need to be able to have an outlet to speak with others like them, because if they if my kid comes to me one day and, you know, tells me that he’s struggling with this, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to help him properly, but I know if this app is on his phone, at least he’s talking to someone. It doesn’t have to be me necessarily, but I would take some comfort in knowing that, okay, he’s talking to other people who get him, who he can relate to, who’s going through the same thing. So, you know, maybe that’s already a step in the right direction.

Stone Payton: [00:21:58] All right. Let’s make sure that our listeners can get their hands on this app and leave them with any other coordinates that you would like to leave them with or want them to be able to follow your work, connect with you, and get access to to this app.

Nisha Lehmann: [00:22:11] Okay. Well, the app is called Confidential Conversations. You will find it on the App Store on Google Play. It does cost. A little something to download it. So at the moment it’s paid simply because we didn’t want ads in the app. That was really the big fear on our end, because you’re already talking about a vulnerable population. And then suddenly if you throw ads in there, it’s it’s not the model that we were looking for. So you do have to pay a little something for it. And I’m sorry, there is a small barrier to entry. Probably in the next version we’ll we’ll try to make it for free because the point of this app is that it really should be accessible and affordable for everyone. You can visit our website that was confit convos. There’s thought leadership there. There are a couple of other podcasts that have I had the privilege of doing as well, so feel free to check them out. And our social media handle is at config convos where on Twitter. We’re on Pinterest, we’re on Facebook, we’re on Instagram. You can pretty much find us on your favorite social media. Feel free to follow us. We’re always posting things that we think will be useful. Other podcasts that are talking about mental health or thought leadership within mental health, or no new research that’s coming out in particular areas. So please follow us and feel free to learn and reach out directly To me. It would be great to hear from from some of the people struggling with mental health issues if this app has helped you or not. Right? Both of them, it would be great to get some feedback just so we know whether we’re in the right direction or whether we really do need to do a complete overhaul.

Stone Payton: [00:23:43] Well, Nisha, it has been an absolute delight having you on the show today. Thank you so much for investing the time and the and the energy and thank you for the work. This is important work and we sincerely appreciate you.

Nisha Lehmann: [00:23:59] Well, thank you so much. And I really hope that the app is is going to help people that that was the whole purpose going in because it helped. It helped me. And if it helped me, maybe it can it can help others. And that’s really my contribution to humanity. I guess so. But thank you. Stone It was it was a great conversation.

Stone Payton: [00:24:20] My pleasure. All right. Until next time, this is Stone Payton for our guest today, Nisha Leamon with confidential conversations and everyone here at the business Radio X family saying we’ll see you in the fast lane.

 

Speaker and Purpose Consultant Genevieve Piturro

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Genevieve-Piturro
High Velocity Radio
Speaker and Purpose Consultant Genevieve Piturro
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Genevieve-PiturroGenevieve Piturro is all about Purpose and The Human Connection. She was a successful television marketing executive until she dramatically changed the direction of her life. She found her true purpose when a sudden inner voice challenged her life as she knew it.

In 2001, she founded the hugely successful national non-profit, Pajama Program, when a question from a six-year-old girl in an emergency shelter changed her life forever and she jumped off the corporate ladder. This year, the Program celebrates its 21st anniversary, having delivered more than 7 MILLION magical gifts of new pajamas and new books to children through its 43 chapters across the U.S.

Genevieve is now a professional speaker and purpose consultant inspiring individuals, groups and companies on The Transformative Power of Purpose & The Human Connection. She created the Purpose ACER business training program to help leaders create a shared culture by aligning the goals of the company and management with the goals of its employees.

Her first book, sharing life and leadership lessons she learned through her Pajama Program journey, is an Amazon best seller and the winner of five (5) awards. The book, Purpose, Passion and Pajamas: How to Transform Your Life, Embrace the Human Connection and Lead with Meaning, debuted during the Covid shutdown to rave reviews. The book’s message dovetails perfectly with our Nation’s growing interest in finding purpose.

Her TEDx talk: “1 Idea + The Human Connection = 7 Million Pajamas” debuted at the same time. Genevieve has been interviewed on and in many local and national media including Hallmark’s Home & Family, The Huckabee Show, OPRAH, TODAY, GMA, The Early Show, CNN, Fox & Friends, O Magazine, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and Parenting Magazine.

Genevieve rang the Nasdaq Stock Market Opening Bell in 2016. She has been the recipient of many local and national awards as she inspires others to listen to their heart-voice in pursuing their passions.

Genevieve is a graduate of Fordham University and lives in Irvington, N.Y. with her husband, Demo DiMartile. If you can’t find them, check the beach.

Connect with Genevieve on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for High Velocity radio.

Stone Payton: [00:00:15] Welcome to the high velocity radio show where we celebrate top performers producing better results in less time. Stone Payton here with you this morning. You guys are in for such a real treat. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast. Author, speaker, consultant and founder of Pajama Program. Ms. Genevieve Piturro. How are you?

Genevieve Piturro: [00:00:39] I’m great. Thank you for this invitation.

Stone Payton: [00:00:41] Stone Well, I am delighted to have you on the show. I got a ton of questions. We won’t get to them all, but I’m thinking maybe a good place to start is if you could share with our listeners. Mission. Purpose. What are you really out there trying to do for folks?

Genevieve Piturro: [00:00:58] Well, you know, I never no one ever asked me what my purpose was or no one ever suggested I might have one and consider it when I was thinking about a career. And I think that’s true for a lot of people who’ve entered who are in the business world now for ten or more years, 20 years even, You know, I thought lucky people found their purpose, you know, famous people I didn’t know we all had one. So when I sort of tripped on mine and it appeared out of nowhere, I thought this this is something that I want to share, that we all have a purpose because nothing felt more right for me to be doing than when I jumped off that corporate ladder because something stimulated me finding my purpose.

Stone Payton: [00:01:46] And what is the back story? How did you find yourself in this line of work? Was it a catalytic moment or did it sort of just evolve?

Genevieve Piturro: [00:01:56] I like that word. It was definitely catalytic. I was climbing the corporate ladder, always wanted to work in the world of television, and I did. I was behind the scenes in marketing and I started in radio and I loved it. It was a fast paced world. I for 12 years, I worked my way up to vice president of marketing for several television syndication companies. And it was my dream, or so I thought. And I really was not paying attention to my roots. I was an Italian first born daughter, first born here in the US, and family was very, very important to my family and I just didn’t have that get married and have children vibe. I had that businesswoman vibe, vibe. But one day, 12 years into this corporate career, I heard a voice in me, asked me a simple question, and it asked me if this is the next 30 years of your life, is this enough? And stone That stopped me cold because I never heard a voice from in me. I’d never considered anything else or really what I was missing. And the answer came just as quickly. You missed something really important. And I realized that although I didn’t want to get married and have kids right then and there, I needed children in my life. And I started reading in shelters and I never felt more grounded than at night after a crazy busy work day.

Genevieve Piturro: [00:03:28] To sit on the floor with these children who were brought in by police and social workers because of being hurt in so many ways. And I felt connected to them. And I felt connected to me. And I’d never felt that before. It took me a while to even use that word. I felt connected to them and to myself. And over time, reading to them, I got to know a little bit about the process. And when I saw them sleeping in their clothes for the first night, they were brought in and huddled together on futons and they had nothing. They were so afraid. I wanted to bring pajamas because I saw the bedtime I had flashed before me and when I did and I handed them out. Most of the children took them quietly, and one little girl was just afraid to take them. And in a moment or two, when I just gently prodded her to take them, she whispered to me, What are pajamas? And that changed everything. I nearly nearly fell over and I went right to the core of me. And I just realized I’ve been I’m the founder of Pajama Program. Now we’re celebrating 22 years. The experience of living. Your purpose has changed everything in my life. And I started talking and speaking on it, and that’s what I do now.

Stone Payton: [00:04:46] Yeah. So. So you’re out there, you’re speaking, you’re consulting. So who are you speaking to and consulting with?

Genevieve Piturro: [00:04:53] Well, it’s so funny because I was doing this while I was still executive director of Pajama Program, and I wanted that position to start to grow us. And after 20 years, I decided to go out on my own to speak about this experience and further it. And so I speak and I have always spoken to groups who are maybe looking for chapter two, who are unfulfilled in general about how to find your purpose and how it changes everything and how we have one. Every single one of us has one. It’s not just for the lucky few. And then in and after the pandemic was at its high, we all were reconsidering what we were doing. And even if you love your job, there’s a way there to communicate with your coworkers and the leaders of the company how to make it purposeful for everyone there to grow the company’s bottom line, to grow the companies camaraderie, to feel inspired. So even if you have a job, you can find your purpose.

Stone Payton: [00:05:56] It must be. It’s got to be incredibly rewarding work.

Genevieve Piturro: [00:06:03] You know. Yes. Rewarding. I don’t. There’s got to be a better word than rewarding because you feel like you belong exactly where you are. You feel like you are in the right skin. You feel like there are forces outside of you that are supporting you. The right people come. Now, when I started Pajama Program and I jumped and left my job, I had I had very little I was not a saver and it was very frightening. I had a lot of nights where I cried myself to sleep, afraid that what did I do and could I get all these children pajamas? And I didn’t even know what a 523 was. So I did it. I did it in a way that probably wasn’t easy. And I coached people on both. You know how I got through that and how to do it a little with a little less stress. But you still always feel like you are where you’re supposed to be and you will get through it. There’s just that knowing when you on your purpose.

Stone Payton: [00:07:03] So how does the whole and I recognize that that this is a nonprofit pursuit, but I still think this applies. How does the whole sales and marketing thing work for for an organization like yours? Like how do you get a chance to get to do the work?

Genevieve Piturro: [00:07:20] Well, you have to balance doing the emotional work because I think for the most part, founders of nonprofits are are doing it because of an emotional experience and emotional attachment to what they’re doing. Right? So there’s balancing the need to tell people how important it is. Share your story, because all founders have a story of why they’re doing this with growing the financial aspect. It is a business the IRS is watching. People want to know the financials. People want to know how they’re making a difference. So there’s a balancing there that takes place. And you need and I needed we all do professionals, professional attorneys, professional CPAs, professional fundraisers, people who know how to run the business part with you while you’re telling the story and really working the mission part of it. And of course, you can make a living working in nonprofit. It’s a little different. You know, it’s different in a lot of ways, but it is a business.

Stone Payton: [00:08:25] So what has it been like moving through the pandemic, coming out of the pandemic? Has that had an impact on the way that you and your clients go to market?

Genevieve Piturro: [00:08:39] Definitely. I think leadership is changing. I think that was a very big part of the pandemic’s effect on all of us. I think I would say it’s used to be more of a military. When I was in my beginnings of the career, very military, like in a boss, said what he wanted you did with the boss wanted. And that’s how I accepted it. And I think over the years and certainly my starting something brand new, I was developing different leadership styles. And I think in the pandemic we all reflected on is that what I want to do? Going to work every day. Is that how I want my day to go? Is that the relationship I want with the people I work with and work for? And I think we’re all looking for more compassion and leaders who inspire us. And I think that that’s a very big difference now today versus three years ago and certainly versus ten or 15 years ago, the different leadership styles for us all.

Stone Payton: [00:09:43] Well, yeah, I suspect some things that may have worked very well for us before pre-pandemic. Now, these are terms, right? Pre-pandemic, but before maybe don’t services as as well now are trying to go forward. Yeah.

Genevieve Piturro: [00:09:59] Yes. Yes. I think we’ve all we all have our stories and they’re very valuable and I don’t think that we were raised, many of us, to share those stories. They were private, but people are sharing now and I think that’s a good thing. We want to find where we connect with each other. I don’t think we want to be on two sides, You know, the leaders over there and everyone else over here. I think we want to connect and interconnect and and intermingle and share and find the commonality because leaders want their teams to rally for them. And the teams employees all want to feel that they’re seen, that they matter, that somebody knows about them and values what they want and includes them. So I think in order to feel included on both sides, the leaders feeling they’re included in their entire team base and the team, the employees feeling like people see them and that they matter. I think that communication and that sharing is key more than ever now.

Stone Payton: [00:11:03] So are you finding that that the client is also seeking something different or or more from the the sales person and those relationships as well?

Genevieve Piturro: [00:11:15] Yes, I think I think all of us are looking for more from each other. Any relationship, personal or business? I think it’s about connection. And I talk a lot in my book about the human connection and how that’s the key to our success. Once you find your purpose, that human connection is going to take you home.

Stone Payton: [00:11:34] So this book, Purpose, Passion and Pajamas, I got to ask, did it did it come together for you pretty easily or were there some parts of the book that were more of a struggle to get committed to paper and articulating things the way you wanted to? What was that experience like writing this book?

Genevieve Piturro: [00:11:54] Well, I tried over the years many times, but Pajama Program took my attention 100%. So I started and stopped a while. And that’s one of the reasons why I wanted to pass the baton of executive directorship and the salary to someone who could take it. So the next 20 years and I wanted to write the book. So that’s what I did. The hardest part, I knew the message. I knew that I wanted to tell everyone, You have a purpose. Promise me you will. Look, I know. I promise you, you have a purpose. And if they feel there’s something missing in your life, there is. And go find it. And I’m here if you want to brainstorm. But the hardest part was the particulars of Pajama program and the children. I wanted to. I wanted everyone to understand the plight of these children and why it brought me to my knees and why I cried and why I didn’t want to to I wanted to take them all home, but I didn’t want to fill it with all of the devastating stories I heard and learned about. So that was that was difficult because I wanted to share so much and I wanted to be really sensitive to to everyone.

Stone Payton: [00:13:02] And so let’s offer the listeners a little bit of counsel, if we can, when they get their hands on this book. Do you do you have some recommendations on how to get the most out of it, how to how to utilize the the book?

Genevieve Piturro: [00:13:17] Sure, it’s a chronological story, but at the end of every chapter are a heart of the matter lessons and in the chapter proceeds it. There are two, three or four key points I want the reader to really own, and I list them at the back of every chapter. So it’s the heart of a matter of lessons that I learned that I want to share at the end of each chapter.

Stone Payton: [00:13:43] So you’ve done something that I’ll confess has been on my bucket list. You’ve conducted a TEDx talk. Say a little bit about that, what it was like to prep for it, what the experience was like, and and what you’ve found to to unfold after doing that.

Genevieve Piturro: [00:14:01] Well, I did it during the pandemic, which was very odd. So I do want to do another one live. And I was set to do one live. And then the pandemic hit and Ted came around and said, okay, hold on all the Ted X. So everybody held. And then when the pandemic didn’t end in six months or even a year, they came back and said, okay, we need to continue. Ted, is there need to be inspiring do them on video? Get a cameraman, do the professionally. Here’s the logo or whatever. We’ll will approve them once you send them in and then we’ll run them. That’s how I did mine. So it was a very surreal experience. I had did what they said. I got a professional cameraman, but I only had that person and my husband cheering me on. And my story is emotional as most Ted is, I think are you you want that feedback from the audience. You want to feel connected because you have a very personal message. So that was strange that I only had my husband and a cameraman there, and I was used to and still love speaking in front of an audience because of that feedback. But but I did okay. They approved it. It’s out. It’s gotten a decent amount of views. And it dovetails with my book and my story and my messages.

Stone Payton: [00:15:17] You are so well accomplished in your in your passion for for the work. It just it really comes through. Did you have the benefit of one or more mentors in your corporate career and or as your entrepreneurial journey was unfolding? Did you get a chance to work with some mentors that helped you navigate some of that terrain?

Genevieve Piturro: [00:15:43] I did. I did. I had a couple of them, but and I had a very good one in constant one whenever I needed to hurt in the nonprofit world when I started that. But early on, somebody gave me the best piece of advice that I give people because we all struggle when we’re trying to grow ourselves and our careers. We’re all trying to do that for the most part. And in addition to one person telling me, get paid on time, no excuses from anybody. And it sounds funny, but I stuck to that and it’s always worked. So that was a very simple piece of advice that I don’t know. Most people hear that from their mentor, but he said that to me and I promised him I would. But a very important exercise that someone told me about. I use it to this day and I’m actually looking at it right now. Stone They said, you know, those days when you think you can’t do it, when you’re doubting yourself, take out a piece of paper and handwrite every accomplishment that is impressive to you that not everyone else has done.

Genevieve Piturro: [00:16:48] Well, If you do that, if any of your listeners do that, I promise you you will be amazed at the list of things you’ve done that you would never have thought a year before, two years before you could have or would have done. And you know what? Most of those things on your list other people don’t do, most people don’t do. And I add to that list. And when I get down and I doubt my next move and I get paralyzed because I’m afraid to take a step and look at that list. And it just it just gives me inner strength to say, Oh, my goodness, look at that. Look at that. I walked out on that job because of something, the way that they were running it or or look at this thing I did when I didn’t think I had any money. How in the world that I all of a sudden get the money to do that? And it’s just empowering, empowering, and I will forever be grateful for that person telling me that.

Stone Payton: [00:17:45] Well, I am so glad that I asked because.

Genevieve Piturro: [00:17:48] I know if you haven’t yet.

Stone Payton: [00:17:51] That is an absolute pearl. So as I understand it, in your work with companies, you’re helping leaders really get a get a handle on this idea of shared culture and and goal alignment. I’d love to leave our listeners with a with a few I’ll call them Pro Tips. The number one pro tip is reach out to Genevieve. But you know between now and then maybe a few actionable items things we should be thinking about, things we should be reading or just some things to be thinking about if we want to be serious and focused. In intentional. Those of us who do have responsibility for generating results with and through other people. Are there some things that we can begin kind of doing on our own before we get our hands on your book and listen to your talk and reach out to you?

Genevieve Piturro: [00:18:44] Well, I created the Purpose Acer program, which I facilitate for leaders and teams, and there are several exercises in there and suggestions and things that I facilitate with them. But I think the communication and the sharing has been missing. I think that there are there’s a group in every organization of the up and coming leaders. They’re in the middle and the top brass can identify them and that group. Honestly, I can tell you where your leader’s going right, and where the leaders might be going off course, because they’re in a great position to either continue and make that company successful or take everything they’ve done in that place where they’re riding high and take it somewhere else. If they don’t feel seen and that their ideas aren’t being considered. So I think. A really great place to start is with your up and coming leaders to make sure they’re on board, to listen to what they need to stay and what they think you’re doing right and wrong. And it’s a scary thing. And it has been for many years for the leader to take a chance and sit down and get that personal. But that is an incredibly powerful group in your organization, Those up and coming leaders and then those that are hired have been hired within six months or a year of report card. How are we doing together? And people are clearly demanding that they be considered. That we see it in the job market. We see it in the change, we see in everything we read about corporate America. And I put that now in quotes. So I think those two groups we really have to pay attention to.

Stone Payton: [00:20:37] Okay, let’s make sure that our listeners have an easy path to have a conversation with you or someone on your team where they can access that TED talk, get their hands on this book, whatever you feel like is appropriate, whether it’s a LinkedIn or a website or email. I just want to make sure that folks can can reach out and connect with you.

Genevieve Piturro: [00:20:58] Thank you. Stone Well, my website has everything Genevieve Pinterest.com and Short LinkedIn has everything to.

Stone Payton: [00:21:07] Well, Genevieve, it has been an absolute delight having you on the show. Thank you so much for for investing the time and energy to join us. And thank you for the work you’re doing. Incredibly important work, and we sincerely appreciate you.

Genevieve Piturro: [00:21:24] Oh, thank you. And thank you again for asking me to share share my story. I so appreciate it.

Stone Payton: [00:21:30] All right. Until next time, this is Stone Payton for our guest today, Genevieve Petro and everyone here at the Business Radio X family saying we’ll see you in the fast lane.

Michaell Magrutsche with The Smart of Art

by

Michaell-Magrutsche-The-Smart-of-Art
High Velocity Radio
Michaell Magrutsche with The Smart of Art
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Michaell-Magrutsche-The-Smart-of-ArtMichaell Magrutsche is an Austrian/Californian multidisciplinary artist, speaker, educator and author.

He works on raising the awareness of our limitless human potential and its wisdom through art creation.

Michaell is an advocate for helping understand neurodiversity like his dyslexia and dysgraphia. Because of his dyslexia he never fit into systems. This forced him to develop an awareness of seeing the world purely from a human perspective. The-Smart-of-Art-Podcast-logo

Connect with Michaell on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

  • Today, we are unconsciously driving/shaming humans against humans through blinding us and hiding behind systems.
  • We use your superpower of creativity and adaptability to allow systems to flourish above humanity and our habitat nature.
  • By catering and submitting our limitless human abilities to systems we negate our inclusiveness to raise our human potential.
  • Creating art is one tool to make us aware and conscious of what we do. It is the language of wisdom and the one common language on this planet.
  • We need to rethink art from a product to its real power, the process of creation to unveil our inner inherent worth to us instead of our system value.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for High Velocity radio.

Stone Payton: [00:00:15] Welcome to the High Velocity Radio show where we celebrate top performers producing better results in less time. Stone Payton here with you this afternoon. Oh, you guys are in for such a real treat. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast artist, speaker, educator and author, Mr. Michaell Magrutsche. How are you, sir?

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:00:39] It’s a pleasure. It’s such a pleasure. Stone After our last talk, I’m looking so forward to this.

Stone Payton: [00:00:46] We did have a good time. We probably could have just hit the record button and it done our show. Then we had such a great conversation. I found it inspiring, informative And your perspective? It is so unique. We’re going to get a chance to talk about the power of art and creativity. Maybe a good place to start so that we can give our listeners a little bit of context. Mission Purpose. What are you really out there trying to do for folks?

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:01:18] Because they could never fit into a system. I was a sick child and I’m dyslexic and as a neurodiverse and this graphic, but I can’t read my writing and I could never fit into systems, really. I was never a system navigator. And what my mission is, is to only give awareness to to make people aware. No steps, no. You’ve got to do this. You’ve got to do that. Everybody has the things. Just listen to this podcast a couple of times and you’re good. That’s it.

Stone Payton: [00:01:53] So I recognize fully that there are certainly situations where we are imposing those kinds of restrictions and those barriers maybe even intentionally. But do you find that a lot of times we’re doing it, but we’re doing it unconsciously and it’s. Yes, yeah, say more about that.

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:02:16] Yeah. So I think it’s not, you know, oh my God, the system is horrible or the people are horrible. It’s our unconsciousness that we don’t are where we’re not aware of what we’re doing and we are not aware we have an also an instinct, an instinct. Our DNA says, hey, be part of the tribe belong. That’s our drive. Right? But you know, the draft that we have. But then the system says, okay, we need to separate between genders because we the system is too limited. When the king was ruling that, they said, okay, I can’t handle man and woman. They’re too complicated. I need to separate them. Oh, my God. Now we have races. I need to separate them. Oh, now we have sexuality. We need to separate it. So in systems, everything has to be separated. And humans don’t work like that. Humans have flow. They are fluid. They are not having you know, they’re not just male or female. That’s very masculine woman and very feminine man. And the same with race. And we are fluid beings because we are unlimited. Everybody is one of one.

Stone Payton: [00:03:28] And it’s it’s all too easy to sort of hide behind some of these systems, don’t you think?

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:03:34] I think, yes. You know, once the system takes over, see, if you and I, we we try to handle a garden together. We have a garden together, you and I. We don’t need a system. We don’t need a calendar. We just say, hey, I take it Saturday, Sunday, you take it the last. The rest of the days it’s done. But once, once we say, Hey, I’m going to get my family members and then our friends, all of a sudden we need a calendar, we need an organizer. And sooner or later we have a mayor of that garden. Right. And so the effort it’s to the effort gets too intense to enjoy the garden. You know, you and I had the we had no problems. And I want to switch your day with you. No problem. But now there’s a calendar and you can if you miss out, you miss out for weeks and there’s a mayor. And if you misbehave, you plant the wrong things. We can’t use the garden. And that’s what happened with most of our systems. They should give us safety, enjoyment, pleasure. And they did pivot that that became too big.

Stone Payton: [00:04:48] So do you think the master key to to penetrating through all this and rising above it is creativity? Is that the right word?

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:04:58] I think it’s the awareness that we humans kind of frightened by our possibilities, by limitlessness. So and that’s why you say that’s witch hunts and days people were ousted and and so the system tries to to to create an artificial safety. And and we don’t want to see really we are a possibility or that we are limitless that we can create the good and the bad, which you see in the world. We can create extreme good and extreme bad. And I think that is the big fear that we have to That’s why we have system to slowly get eased into that limitlessness that that we can do anything. But at the same time, the sad thing at the same time, we don’t have a definitive answer for what is the meaning of life supposed to be or is. So those two are going is a teeter totter and all the humans are, you know, not secure about that because through systems we have seen our limitlessness, but that has turned into more and more of a limit because every thing that we created is limit has limits. It’s only God created us in nature. So we are the highest priority. But we we pretend we are not. We pretend, you know, a multinational company or a CEO that hides behind a multinational company or a star that is elevated by the system to that is is more averse than you and I. And in nature, as you know, nature never lies in nature. You are valuable because you exist. That doesn’t mean you have system value, but you you worthy that because you exist.

Stone Payton: [00:07:04] So you touched on your background early in the conversation. Was there a catalytic event, a turn of events that compelled you to pursue art, or was it more of an evolution? How did you become an artist?

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:07:21] It was an evolution. I wasn’t aware. And most artists, even famous artists, are not aware, you know, uncomfortable to call themself artists, even if they are by society deemed as such. And when I was 30, I think there was around 30 when I looked at my resumes. When I was obviously into art, I knew that saved my life. I knew when I couldn’t understand anything in school and I had to do everything. Self-taught, I, I realized with 30. Really that I am an artist by. By not trade, by being. I am just an artist because every job that I had was art related, creativity related. All my the fact that I survived was because I’m creative and I was dyslexic and this graphic. But I wrote five books. You know, I worked with Robert Evans, who did The Godfather and and I worked with. So I, I kind of tried to be part of the system without being the part of the system.

Stone Payton: [00:08:33] So what was that very first book like? Did it come together pretty easily or was it a real struggle for you when you wrote the first one?

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:08:43] It was not a struggle at all. So none of the books were a struggle. They were actually a self exploration. Because my creativity, you know, I loved movies. I wanted to be a big movie producer and I love movies. And that was my escape to to feel human, you know? And when I had that, I was I looked at stories. And when you look at a lot of movies, you you get a feel for stories. And then I did the, you know, the course that Spielberg does on screenwriting or did and then I. I learned how to to to navigate a script. And my first book is a script. So and then I said, No, I want to do a story about humans. And I was always interested in humans and about how family societies or systems say families, everything. But at the same time, you have that paradox that nobody other than family would do things to you that your your friends wouldn’t do. Your friends would never do what your family would do. So it can be the best and the worst.

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:10:03] So the whole potential, again, it could be family, could be the best thing that you can have. But at the same time, it can be the worst that you have. And we know and we reveal that right now, you know, oh, my God. And unknowingly, this stuff happens. Obviously, when you beat up somebody that doesn’t happen that that is not unconscious. But but, but but you but we are not conscious of the effects that certain things have. I want to strengthen my boy. I’m going to be hard to him that that really is that is that really what that kid needs? Some boys might be really hard at it. We are too. You can’t put us in systems. You can’t put us in boxes. And we try and we adapt. Our superpower, which I say the third superpower is, is adaptation. We adapt that systems work because systems could never work because they created mouse, but we adapt to systems to the tribe so that we actually all function in unison, which is driven by our drive to belong and be inclusive.

Stone Payton: [00:11:15] So what I think I’m hearing here is try not to do this to other people, but for God’s sakes, don’t put yourself in a box. Right?

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:11:24] Exactly. Exactly, exactly. Be open and and say everything is a potential. And since nobody knows this, the meaning of life and what it’s supposed to be, just be in the moment. Enjoy the moment. I mean, I’m milking you and our conversation right now. Yeah, I’m totally engaged in that. I’m not thinking, Oh my God, what bills do I have to pay? What needs to do for my friends or whatever I’m thinking about right now, I’m here with you and you are you with me? I mean, people can hear that. And also people can gauge that, you know?

Stone Payton: [00:11:58] Absolutely. Okay. So subsequent books do are you out there in the world with this vision, this mission, this ethos, this mindset? And then you you see a gap or you see some dynamic and you think to yourself, okay, something more has got to be said to that. We’ve got to get that. We’ve got to talk about this more and get it to more people. Is that how subsequent book concepts have come together for, you.

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:12:23] Know, they they’re not they’re not interrelated because the first book was a screenwriting play, the second was a product. And our project that I did, where did I think 300 paintings in three days?

Stone Payton: [00:12:38] Wow.

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:12:39] And so so I’m exploring it, my explorer, because I couldn’t if I would have just fit into system, be good in school, I would have gone the way everybody else does. Yeah, I couldn’t. And I discovered curiosity. I you know, I don’t try to fit in a system anymore. I do what I do and I make people aware and I become aware. So I just, you know, I just listen before you I just listen to another podcast because I was curious what these guys say.

Stone Payton: [00:13:14] And does this. I know the answer is yes, but I want to explore how this carries itself into the professional speaking work you do because you speak in front of groups as well on these topics and others.

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:13:28] Yeah, it is. It is just it came automatically. I did I did a couple of docs and now that people want to talk to me, you know, it just, it just organically I didn’t I’m not a marketer at all. I have nothing to sell. Stone I mean, I told you that. I mean, you can go into websites, but I have nothing I have nothing to sell other than being with engaging other humans and experience my humanity with them. You know, I’m not rich. I’m not, you know, I’m system wise, I’m not I’m not a navigator or a successful person system wise, you know.

Stone Payton: [00:14:08] So for those of us who do have something to sell, I still think there’s tremendous value in what you’re describing. Because if I’m running a business and incidentally, I am, I own a pretty good piece of the business radio network and I run a studio here locally and they are they’re both viable businesses and I want to grow them. But so much of what you’re saying still resonates with me because I feel like I can bring that to that profit making pursuit. Do you agree?

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:14:39] Absolutely. But I’m not a guy that. So my super strength of of of, you know, the dyslexia makes me see context. But at the same time, everything is figures and every system, even economic and business. I can give you the wisdom what you need to look for system. So I do a lot of consulting too, so I’m giving you a sense of that. But I can talk figures, numbers or whatever, you know, I said because I believe, for example, even example, I believe that in the future every business, if it wants to survive, has to be. In service. In service to human nature. Not in those two systems. So. That’s that’s it has to be humane. So, for example, you just buy your radio, which is you don’t have to reinvent yourself, but you buy your radio. You do the second superpower that I define, a second superpower after creativity, which is human, healthy, human discourse. Well, it’s not about right or wrong, this or that. It’s all about. Human potential. We talk right now. This whole talk is not about, you know, how are we going to navigate the system better, because I wouldn’t know that, but I would know how how to do a talk that helps human potential, that whoever listens to this talk doesn’t need two steps.

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:16:20] Just listen to the talk. And because once you’re aware of something, you change automatically. See, in the systems, it has to sell you something to change in the with you and me. So, for example, if you if you say if I say your wife is pregnant. You can either say, okay, I get the divorce, but you have to do something. You have said, I don’t care. You know, the moment I give you a conscience, I make you conscious of something that affects you. You have to change. If you want or not. And it’s not hard to change is not hard when you realize it. You just you know, it might feel a little uncomfortable if you say, Hey, Stone, you just said something that really hurt me. Then you can contemplate that and you might feel a little uncomfortable, but then you can see it or you can’t see it, but you have to do something.

Stone Payton: [00:17:15] This vehicle, this this having a platform, a channel. I don’t even know what you would call it to express your creativity. I guess I’ve been incredibly blessed because for me, it is the microphone, right? I get to meet fascinating people who are bright and passionate, excited about what they’re doing. And the conversation is because above and beyond all of the benefits that you’re describing, Michael, it’s just a heck of a lot of fun.

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:17:46] But that’s but look at nature. Look at nature. Which animal is serious system make you serious because they want you to focus all your attention to serve them. With your adaptability. And therefore you need to concentrate and concentrate. You say I’m serious, but that’s control and manipulation because you know, the creative, most creative songs or whatever, you know, any artwork took 20 minutes. I mean, the Think Yellow Submarine took 20 minutes to write Jumpin Jack Flash or Satisfaction, 15 minutes or an hour. It is we are disturbed, disturbed and distorted humans to humans because behind systems are humans too. We are just not aware that we fighting each other with creativity. And that’s the that’s the sad. This is the bottom line of the sad thing. We fight each other humans to humans through systems. We experience our human being through the systems doing we we are not. We are born in the hospital and from then it’s always system. So we experienced. And now with the pandemic we are social through systems. You know, it would be much better if you and I sit together and have a beer or something. This is the sad thing, you know.

Stone Payton: [00:19:15] So you’re reaching people who are running organizations. You’re you’re reaching people who have a bit of an innate curiosity for this. They’re on a search. Have you have you found a way to start reaching young people? I don’t know, like people who are in the university system or coming up through school. Have you have you found a way to reach them early?

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:19:40] I do it a lot with educators. I work on an educational I’m all over, you know, I mean, I do so many things because they all have the same essence. It’s all about human nature. But when you go and look at the human perspective of anything we do. So I’m building a house. How does it affect me? Humanly. Is this human? Is this okay when it’s noisy? Is this okay when it’s totally coronary? When it has no natural environment in that housing? You can. Is is when you go to a practice, medical practice. Is that good to be all sterile? They know for four years that green is the best color for healing. They know for years that when you have a window and look in nature, that the healing goes much faster. I mean, there’s so many things, but it’s the cost that determine everything and the awareness that all these systems that we have. Are based on a financial system, even religions and everything else, because they have to run on something and that’s why they always go. Bottom line. Financial static. Financial. And humans are fluid, They are organic, they’re fun. Like you said, they’re fun, they’re humor. That’s like animals. Just look at animals. Animals. They always play, always their whole thing. Elephants, everything. Everybody plays. So it’s. Go ahead.

Stone Payton: [00:21:12] I was just going to say. So if I find myself in a system, you know, in my case, I actually own a pretty good piece of of an ongoing concern. And there’s some systems there. But I’m thinking about like that mid-level manager who has some responsibility for for generating some results through other people. Even if I find myself with some of those constraints, I got to believe there are some things that I can do to loosen the strings a little bit to to to promote some of these ideas and give my folks a little room to to express some of these some of these things. Yeah.

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:21:47] You’re absolutely right. What this is, is the easiest thing static systems to make. You just have to say, how would I feel on the receiving end? If you are middle manager, you you have to deal with the boss and you have to deal with the with with your workers or with your colleagues and. When you say OC, a good example, you know what? They always say that in hospitality the customer is king. The customer is always right. The biggest lie ever. That’s when the system. This is the truth. Now. This is the human truth. If the team works harmoniously and has fun and is happy. They can do the maximum best job. And the customer feels like a king because he gets what the company is selling.

Stone Payton: [00:22:48] I got to tell you, I had the pleasure of interviewing Haus Schultz, who is responsible for the that whole idea of ladies and gentlemen, serving ladies and gentlemen, with the Ritz Carlton. And when you describe that environment, I know that’s at least what he was what he was striving for. Also, his accent is similar.

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:23:12] Yeah, I’m from Vienna. From Austria. So? So. So, yeah, I mean, stolen you. You totally get it. And I think the whole world is waking up and get it that we are. But. But we don’t, you know, we want to save the nature. Save nature doesn’t need saving. I’m not saying we should dirty it, but it doesn’t need save it because it’s so much more intelligent than we are. It always grows over. Look at Chernobyl. Look at the Mayans. They say these and humans have extinct themselves 100 times or whatever, you know. And it. And the nature is as long as one cell lives, they just grow growing over it. We don’t need to save nature for nature. We have so little value as humans. We have conditioned ourselves of our own value and limitlessness self self that we we said, Oh, we need to save nature. No, we need to save nature to save humans. We need to save humans so that when whoever comes afterwards and wants to visit this planet for a short time, they have a good time. It’s like everybody goes to Hawaii and throws everything away, burn stuff and whatever, and then just leaves. We kind of take care of of the environment. So we and our heritage and everybody has a and can enjoy this experience. It is experiential life is we don’t know the sense of meaning of life, but it is an experience. And when we distracting ourselves into systems, we don’t have that sit that that experience of being a human being, a human being not at doing.

Stone Payton: [00:24:56] It is abundantly clear that you so thoroughly enjoy your work, your pursuit. What are you finding the most rewarding these days? What are you enjoying the most?

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:25:09] Stone. The most rewarding is for me. To become aware and that you you become automatically so less. Less thinking, more being in the moment. Trying to be in a moment. And, you know, the awareness that I get talking to you. There’s a lot of things. I haven’t talked to people about this, and I’ve given up 90 interviews or something, so. So. You know, there’s a lot of things that went. That’s why I say it’s the superpower. Healthy dialog where it’s not about system discussion, you know? System betterment, yes, but not system discussion. Who is right? You know, which party is better? Republicans or Democrats? That is not that’s not a healthy discussion. It’s about. It’s about. Into action because there’s so much going on between you and me, which you feel and I feel, and probably the listeners feel too, that, Oh my God, there’s this revelation. Look at stolen. Look at Michael. Oh my God, You know, this back and forth. It’s a superpower. That’s why podcasts, people are sick and tired of hearing news that are fabricated by systems where 100 people try to manipulate you to stay on the news and other ones try to get the gist out of the news and not a satisfied because you just talk to each other. That’s what that energy, the humanity is, is is is so much looking for and nobody has ratings but the. The start of doing this movement of podcasting is a good one because it shows us that we don’t want to be prefabricated. We want to be human to human human nature. Our environment value our human potential, not systems. I mean, this is the best episode. This is the best. This episode is the best proof of this, you know?

Stone Payton: [00:27:20] Speaking of podcast, I went and I viewed and listen to some of your other interviews, but I also came across the podcast. You do, and I love the way you do it. It’s just these short little bursts with some very insightful comments. That’s a that’s a really interesting way to leverage this this platform. Do you know where you came up with that idea?

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:27:46] By default, Because I’m dyslexic, I couldn’t do what you do. I couldn’t have a staff and organize everything. First of all, I’m an artist and I could never fit. So I’ve not built up any wealth or whatever where I could even employ somebody. But I because I’m dyslexic and this graphic. It just my brain wouldn’t. I would it would take me to do an episode probably a week or two to, to, to organize it and cut it and edit it and or get somebody to do it and converse with it. And I feel. That because I’m a writer too. So I feel that when you condense certain things that people haven’t talked about, like that’s why you find me interesting, you know? Yeah. When I condense certain things just to one get deep, just to one sentence, which is every podcast is a quote and a question too, to make this quote work. It’s 30 seconds. People have no time anyway. And and you. It seats seeds of wisdom that just percolate in you. So whatever I have experienced and found and uncovered because wisdoms you can’t invent or create like a system, you can uncover the wisdom. And then I put it into quotes and I found this out to through art. Because to us creating not through the art product, product through art creating, I found this and I found all everything. My whole wisdom is from creating art and and interacting with other humans like you.

Stone Payton: [00:29:25] Yeah. So what’s next for you? Or do you even know?

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:29:31] I don’t know. I don’t have goals and I don’t know. Stone I live in the moment. I’m being. I’m being right now. And if I start going into buying constructs about the future, I can’t enjoy it now. Because that’s what the world is sick of, because we are in my constructs, because the systems are promoting. Oh, in the future, you’re going to be rich, you’re going to retire. You’ve got and that people are so exhausted, they retire and die. So so and have not experienced anything. I work hard. I’m not leaving basically. I’m not saying not working hard. I work hard. You know that I work all the time. But. I have fun. I enjoy what I do. Every moment I try to. Every moment to enjoy.

Stone Payton: [00:30:23] Well.

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:30:24] And if I don’t, I don’t know.

Stone Payton: [00:30:28] Well, you’ve certainly made this conversation a joy for me. So if our listeners would like to follow your work, maybe tap into these books or access the podcast that we talked about. Let’s make sure that we leave them with whatever you think is appropriate, whether it’s a website. But I just want to make sure that we make it easy for them to connect with you.

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:30:51] Mm hmm. Yeah. It’s Michael. M dot com. Michael with two L’s. Michael Morcombe and you. All your social my phone number, my emails, my books, my music, my engagement everything is up there. So you can, you can connect with me. And it takes, you know don’t feel intimidated by this episode. It’s about the exchange. It’s not about the knowledge or wisdom. We we say it’s about that, you know, like Stone and I, we connected and we just chatted. That’s it. We have no idea what we’re talking about. I mean, we said, you know, it’s got to be art and systems, but this is this is it.

Stone Payton: [00:31:39] Well, Michael, it has been an absolute delight having you on this show. I can’t thank you enough for investing the time and energy to join us. You’re doing important work and we sincerely appreciate you, man.

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:31:53] Thank you. Stone And any time you want to talk about a specific, we can do this again.

Stone Payton: [00:31:58] All right. This is Stone Payton for our guest today, Michael McGurk and everyone here at the business Radio X family saying we’ll see you in the fast lane.

 

Sherita Buford with Euphoria Noir

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Buy a Business Near Me
Sherita Buford with Euphoria Noir
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Sherita-Buford-Euphoria-NoirSherita Buford is with Think Pink Hot Shot & Transportation Service LLC, a woman-owned, full service logistics company located in the Houston Metroplex area.

Over the last 20 years Think Pink has grown into a diversified, multi-state logistics and fuel provider, delivering highly professional services and resources to its ever growing customer base.

Think Pink Hot Shot & Transportation Services has a combination of experience and expertise within the industry which allows us to provide the quality and assurance to maximize the best results in the market for our customers.

Connect with Sherita on LinkedIn and follow Think Pink on Twitter and Instagram.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Buy a Business Near Me, brought to you by the Business RadioX Ambassador program, helping business brokers sell more local businesses. Now, here’s your host.

Stone Payton: [00:00:32] Welcome to another exciting and informative edition of Buy a Business near Me. Stone Payton here with you this morning. This is going to be a fantastic conversation. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast with Euphoria Noir Ms.Sherita Buford. How are you?

Sherita Buford : [00:00:51] Oh, I am great. How are you guys?

Stone Payton: [00:00:53] Oh, we are doing well. And it’s such a pleasure to get a chance to visit with you today. You have so many irons in the fire, as my daddy would say. So many plates spinning. But today we’re going to get a chance to talk a little bit about the green rush. But before we dive into some specific questions and topics, maybe it would be a good idea to share with our listeners, You know, mission purpose, What are what are you and your team really out there trying to do for folks with this effort?

Sherita Buford : [00:01:22] Well, we’re just trying to make sure that everyone that’s getting into this green rush is properly informed on the policy and procedures and most of the laws and the guidelines. So we’re just trying to give them a starting point and make sure they’re educated and kind of, you know, cultivate what they’re doing. Kind of do a little mentorship and make sure that this green rush is what they call and it gets out to the right people, the right resources, the right banks, the right financial institutions, just basically some good old fashioned just starting it up from the ground up.

Stone Payton: [00:01:57] Well, I’ll tell you something else that would be helpful for me personally, and I think it would be good for the listeners as well. Maybe you can help us get a handle on some different terms, like hemp. Then there’s CBD and there’s these Delta nine strains. It’s all it’s a lot. So can you give us a little bit of an idea about those people?

Sherita Buford : [00:02:17] Label it different ways. I think that it’s all a derivative of hemp is sort of speak when you say the CBD, the Delta nine, the Delta eight and the few different strains they have. It’s all a derivative of the health. And so people have their choice on, you know, some people like the Delta eight because of the smoother taste or the way it makes you feel. Some people like the calming effects of the Delta nine, So it’s really a personal preference, but they’re all derived from one plant, which is the hemp. And so it’s just became a little bit more popular to say, Hey, I like the Delta eight strand versus the seven versus the nine, or there are a few additional new strands out. I mean, we really can’t keep up. These guys are very creative with these strands and and they’re healing properties and their medicinal and non medicinal reasons as well. So it’s basically it’s the same thing. People just have their preference on what they like.

Stone Payton: [00:03:12] Now it’s my understanding there are some regulatory things still in place. You got to jump through a few hoops and get some things organized before you can get into this business. Is that the case in Texas and what does it take to get your.

Sherita Buford : [00:03:28] Definitely, definitely. So what our group does is basically we sit you down with a consultation and we make sure, one, that you’re lawfully able to achieve the goals that you set forth. So there is like some legalities that you go over just to make sure that, you know, you’re in compliance. And then once we go through that, we basically develop a business plan starting from the basically the bottom bottom on getting their retail license, making sure there are spaces. We just basically go over a plan. And so once we do that, we start with the licensors for first. After we do that, then we just basically we follow the plan that we came in and they put together. So if they say, Hey, I’m looking to get into this business, we first go over the legalities with just checking the state website. I’m proud to say Mr. Miller and his team has a very mapped out on the website. They have YouTube videos, basic instructions. I mean, our Department of Agriculture really supports us when it comes to getting in this line of business. So that is a very good place to start. But if they don’t know how to start, even on those websites, they can come to us and we can walk them through the whole process.

Stone Payton: [00:04:34] So how in the world did you get started in this line of business? What’s the what’s the back story on you?

Sherita Buford : [00:04:43] Well, the back story is, as you can see, the name Euphoria in the war. It’s basically I started out doing brokering. And so I’m a very, very, very strong advocate of breast cancer and cancer survival survivalists. So now the new term that we use is warrior. So after going in some conversation with some warriors we were looking for, I guess you would say, a holistic approach to cancer treatments. And so what we came on was a lot of our holistic doctors were using CBD, hemp and THC to combat some of the symptoms before and after chemo treatments. And some of them they didn’t even receive chemo treatments. They also said that they received benefits. So after searching it for the. Answer. I found out that there was a lot more things as far as building materials, construction properties, just basic. It’s a sustainable resource for us as well. Not only does it have holistic approaches to alien symptoms, so that’s basically how I got into it, consulting with some of my warriors who were survivors and they they introduced me to this. And so we started out with taking shakes, edibles to naturals, oils, and it actually helped me as well. And I’m using it based off a holistic approach. So that’s how I got into it. Just basically looking for a healthy alternative.

Stone Payton: [00:06:08] Yeah. And with your background in brokerage, you probably have a pretty good handle on helping people even get funded. Yeah.

Sherita Buford : [00:06:20] Oh, definitely. So there are several. What people don’t understand is that it’s several different programs that they can go to that offer grants, sponsorships. There’s a lot. So when you deal with the help, it depends on what phase or what your plan is or what your goal is. I should sort of speak because we all start with the plan, but we have to have a goal. They have so many resources through the United States Department of Agriculture because you’re actually saying that you want to produce on the United States land. So they will help you. They will give you the resources that you need. You just have to know what you want because it’s such a broad area, but you’re actually cultivating soil. Our partner with some of the local colleges that do agriculture, and they’re always eager to help to send volunteers. So there’s there’s a lot of good stuff involved in it. It makes you feel good, too, because you’re actually growing. And I’m not a growing person. I like to go to the grocery store and it’s all done for.

Stone Payton: [00:07:18] Well, it does sound like very rewarding work. What do you enjoy the most about it?

Sherita Buford : [00:07:26] What I enjoy most is I get to be a cool kid. I never was the cool kid. I was a nerd kid. So when you start talking about CBD and THC with the kids, I have college kids that actually call me and say, Hey, you know, I want to know if I take this class. Will you be able to help me, you know, when I’m finished? So it kind of puts you on a cool rush with your college kids. If you have them or their friends, it gives you something different to talk about because not many people are easy with talking about it, but it’s something that they’re doing and, you know, pretty much every state. So now that Texas has taken a part in it, I think it’s actually an interesting conversation, which makes me kind of like the conversational piece now amongst my peers.

Stone Payton: [00:08:09] So as you’re sitting down with folks, some who may be very knowledgeable about the product in May or may not have a great deal of experience getting a business off the ground, I bet you see some patterns like some of the same things that are missing or the some of the same questions or misconceptions. Has that been the case where you where you see some things over and over and you’re like, Yep, I’ve heard this before and here are some things you need to think about.

Sherita Buford : [00:08:39] Yes. So we get a lot of people to come in and they come in like, hey, I seen about seven retail stores. You know, this is what we want to do. They have a misconception of just jumping in and putting it on your shelf. Like I said, there’s policy and procedures. We sit them down, we consult with them. They can come by our office, they can come by our location. We have a full staff that they do an intake interview and based upon their intake interview, then we, you know, like I said, we call them back in or real soon, and we’ll basically go over that plan and show them what they’re missing or basically how to put the pieces to the puzzle together so they can see their pathway on how to get started.

Stone Payton: [00:09:17] So in this business of yours and in consulting in the past with with other entrepreneurs and brokering businesses, did you have the benefit of a of a mentor or two that kind of helped you learn the terrain?

Sherita Buford : [00:09:34] Well, actually, not really. The mentors, I would say, would be probably my holistic guide. And these were just a group of ladies who have a group and they were basically we just got together and we self-taught. And by me having a background dealing with government services for procurement and brokering, it just kind of like fell into place. I just kind of start looking around. And maybe for the last two years I’ve just been doing my research, following up with my organizations, making sure I stay in the network with all of the groups. The advocates were actually on board. This month, we’re going to Austin for a two day training and sessions. So you just have to basically it’s self taught because it’s not really many people out here right now that can share the information or even have privy to knowing the information. And I’ve just been on this board for so long because I do do projects through the USDA that it just so happened to be that this was just maybe just a door I just had to open in the room that I was already in.

Stone Payton: [00:10:33] So how does the whole sales and marketing thing? It’s kind of a two part question. How does the whole sales and marketing process work for you in this business of helping launch these businesses? And then how does the sales and marketing thing work for for these businesses?

Sherita Buford : [00:10:56] Well, I’m not really a sales and marketing manager, but from what I’m hearing, word of mouth in social media is like 90% of how these people are taking like rocket into the top. So I think you have to have a really good social media presence and then you have to know your audience. And I think they just go after them because these places are I mean, if you’re in Texas and you’ve been here for a little while, you know, within the last year, there’s one at least every 90 days you’re seeing a new location open up. So the way that I believe, like I said, I’m not a marketing specialist, but I do know that social media and word of mouth is just it’s running rampant right now.

Stone Payton: [00:11:35] Well, it makes perfect other thing. Yeah, go ahead.

Sherita Buford : [00:11:38] You’re right. And so the second part of your question.

Stone Payton: [00:11:43] Yeah. I was just wondering how how the sales and marketing worked for you. Like, how do you get to have conversations with these people and, and maybe it’s the same way.

Sherita Buford : [00:11:53] Yeah, it is. And then too, like I say, I stay in the emails, I stay in the network, I stay in the know how or, you know, I, I consult them once my peers, basic email texts, group chats, the group chats and the social media are awesome. So basically I don’t do any promoting, so to speak, because everybody that I know is is really pretty much a heavy social media presence and they kind of do the promoting for me or say, Hey, if you’re looking into this industry, you know, go holler at my girl over here in Missouri City or Sugarland, Texas, and she can help you guys. You know, she’s offering consulting this week or they’ll pretty much they’ll just give me the I guess, the marketing ploy so I need so I really don’t do anything. What then? It’s guys like yourself that are opening up people as well.

Stone Payton: [00:12:43] What a fantastic strategy. And it’s you know, I know for me, if I’m shopping for anything, I’m going to go to my circle and I’m going to ask their recommendations. So, I mean, that sounds like a solid approach to me.

Sherita Buford : [00:12:57] Yeah, you have to. You have to look to your team and look to your inner your inner circle for your Zen, because, you know, you might have somebody that you think like, hey, you know, they’re just a manager over here, but they might know ten people that actually, you know, might have something to offer. So you have to just basically take stock of your inventory because sometimes your biggest network are your peers.

Stone Payton: [00:13:19] So we touched on this formal process and I would certainly advocate, look, if you’re going to go through any kind of process that involves regulation and credentialing work with with someone like Sarita who has the the experience base and the skill set to help you navigate that, It’s just a that makes all the sense in the world. Now, is there as part of that, is there a a pre-approval piece to this at all where you can at least sort of stack the deck in your favor a little bit?

Sherita Buford : [00:13:50] Yes. If you come in or if you call or if you email, there’s a criteria based list. What I was telling you about where it’s some standard things that are government regulated, where you have to meet that criteria for us to even accept you. And we also involve that in our in our intake interview as well. We let them know, hey, if you guys can get past this point, then we’re welcome to accept you as a client. But we can’t do anything about the government regulated part. But should I say, it’s not that hard? I mean, this program is actually open to a lot of people who think like, hey, you know, I’ve done something in my teenage life or, you know, we’ve all had those college nights up and, you know, we’re saying, oh, God, you know, we don’t care about 20 years in the future. Now we’re about 20 years in the future. Hey, it’s nothing to worry about. It’s just a basic guideline. If you are like someone like me and had a good time and you’re, you know, five or six years in college, don’t worry about it. I’m pretty sure we’re grandparents and we’re, you know, we’re grown at this point. So I tell people, don’t get discouraged. Just let me send you the criteria list.

Sherita Buford : [00:14:57] And so far, we’ve had maybe like two out of ten that didn’t meet the criteria. I mean, it’s really, really easy. The state of Texas wants people to get involved. The Department of Agriculture wants you to get involved because we’re sustaining ourself on American soil. So that’s like if you’re somebody like me who, you know, we love making products that we make on our on our own soil and we manufacture, we sell, then you would love this. And like I said, the criteria are basic. We’ll send you a list of all the government rules and regulations and what the do’s and don’ts were in your intake interview. And like I said, maybe two out of ten. So I always tell people, Hey, give it a shot. It doesn’t cost you anything but an email or a phone call and we’ll send you what they have on the website so you don’t have to look for it. We have it all downloaded for you. You can send us an email or book an appointment and we’ll give it to you. And like I said, as long as they can pass the criteria, they’re pretty much good to go. We’ll hold their hand through the whole process.

Stone Payton: [00:16:01] So are there opportunities evolving for someone like me maybe, who may want to invest in a startup like that? Because I see the market potential, but I don’t really want to run my own chopper or anything. Is there a platform or a channel or a way to invest in some of these startups? Have you have you seen that?

Sherita Buford : [00:16:24] Yes, Yes. We have a lot of people who have representatives that approach us and they just want to know how could they be? How could they get involved? We have an affiliation program. We’re not franchising because of the industry that it is. You have to be careful. But we do offer an affiliation program which allows you to come in and speak with our team. They will show you the legalities of it. They’ll sit down and they’ll strategize. They’ll show you the funding that you have available. They’ll show you basically, we’ll give you the structure set up so you’ll know what your risk is, whether it’s on the low end or the high end, or show you the financial institutions that get involved with us will show you all the regulations, because what a lot of people don’t know is when you get into this industry and you’re on it on the medical side, there are split spending accounts that will cover your bills. There’s also insurance plans that will cover your bill. But you have to know how to go into the system. You have to know the doctors and the network. So we show them all the back end so they’ll know the risk coming in. And then we also show them the people that have already been set up by the government who can consult, pass what our knowledge is.

Sherita Buford : [00:17:35] We also give them referrals to those as well. We show you the financial institutions that will offer you services like delayed page or payment plans because there’s a lot of people, you know, like let’s just say the average guy goes out, he’s a maybe a garbage collector, he’s jumping on it off that truck. He didn’t realize that, you know, after 40, you know, your bones don’t work the same as they did ten years ago when he started. So he may want some CBD oil, but hey, he doesn’t have the extra, but he has an insurance plan that might cover some of them. And that’s what we have people in our office to sit down and go over insurance policies until those as well. So a lot of investors get in on the medical or the wellness side and they find it very lucrative to what they’ve already been doing. And that’s what we offer you guys. Like it’s it’s so it’s so many ways that you can go down this avenue for the green rush. That’s why we always do an intake interview and we find out if you’re on the investor side or if you’re just looking to, like you say, just put a little money up to see what turns out.

Stone Payton: [00:18:35] Before we wrap, this question is a little more about entrepreneurship in general. So many of our listeners on the business radio network are early stage entrepreneurs, aspiring entrepreneurs. So my question really, it’s about inspiration. When you I mean, you’re obviously a very upbeat person, you’re very passionate about what you’re doing. But but I know you’re human. And when when it’s time to recharge the batteries, where do you go? How do you how do you sort of rekindle the fire when it’s time to do that?

Sherita Buford : [00:19:08] Well, I looked at the statistics, so if I look at something, um, I look at the statistics and I look at what it can do. So a lot of people have a misconception. So when I look at something, I say, Hey, let me find out for myself. Let me see what good this can do. Let me see how it makes me feel. And, you know, honestly speaking, what’s the minimum cost to get involved? So that’s the big thing, too. You say, hey, to invest in this product, it might take 25,000 or to invest in CBD and help. You know, I can start out with under $5,000 while, you know, or it may be something that someone said to me like they say, hey, you know, I had a you know, one of euphoria shakes, which is a dragon fruit, immune boosting shake. And it was, you know, line with CBD that’ll give me like, hey, well, maybe it was a CBD or maybe it was the dragon fruit. It’s just self interest. How much sweat equity you’re willing to pour into something that you have. And I just tell people just, you know, go for your dream, find something that you like. I’ve never been anywhere that they didn’t say we have any CBD products.

Sherita Buford : [00:20:16] You can walk into your gas station, your Walmart, your your massage parlor, you know, everywhere, it said. And so that sparks my interest. And that’s the stuff that keeps me going. Like, Hey, I want to know what’s going on. It’s everywhere. But I don’t hear it talked about a lot. So that’s something that I go after. I don’t know if that answers the question, but, you know, that’s the way that I go after it. I’ve seen it. It’s, you know, my kids come home from college, Hey, we want a CBD bath bomb to take a better bath. You know, I’m interested. I’m actually investing in a product that I don’t know about. And, you know, my from my kids to my peers, they’re like, hey, you know, you should try the shampoo or, you know, there’s hemp clothing. You know, it’s just something that you have to have a self interest in. And it’s not a heavy startup. So that makes it enticing. And it’s just something that you you know, like I said, it’s very interesting to go into it and find out that it has so many medical properties as well as the medicinal as well.

Stone Payton: [00:21:16] Oh, no, it absolutely answers the question. Okay, let’s make sure that our listeners have a way to learn more, get in touch with you or somebody on your team. So let’s let’s leave them with some coordinates. Whatever you feel like is appropriate, whether it’s email or website or LinkedIn. I just want to make sure that folks can connect with you and learn more.

Sherita Buford : [00:21:36] Yes, yes, yes. So actually, I do have a LinkedIn and I have all the social media platforms and we have people that activate them. So if you guys want to go ahead and follow it, sink pink, hot shot service on every platform, you can also search for Sarita Buford on LinkedIn or you can look for a think tank hot shot service across all boards LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook as well.

Stone Payton: [00:22:09] Well, Sarita, it has been an absolute delight having you on the show today. Thank you so much for investing the time and energy.

Sherita Buford : [00:22:19] Thank you so much for having me. And like I said, thank you so much and I really enjoyed it.

Stone Payton: [00:22:25] All right. Until next time, this is Stone Payton for our guest today, Sarita Buford with Euphoria and and everyone here at the business Radio X family saying we’ll see you next time on Buy a Business near me.

 

The Hardy Realty Show – Blake Dean and Josh Mollenkamp with The Davies Shelters

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The Hardy Realty Show
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Lifestyle Fitness Coach Mariana Cadore

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High Velocity Radio
Lifestyle Fitness Coach Mariana Cadore
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Mariana-Cadore-headshotMariana Cadore is an author, speaker and Lifestyle Fitness Coach.

She started her career as a National team rower for Brazil then she became a Health Coach helped thousands of people in many countries and end up developing her own methodology: the Reset ™️ method.

Now her method is inside her book: F* the Diet: How to Get off the Weight-Loss Roller Coaster and Lose 1 Kg per Week.

Connect with Mariana on LinkedIn and Instagram.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

  • If stress influences weight loss
  • What Mariana thinks about the theory of exercising more and eating less
  • If you need willpower to lose weight
  • About Mariana’s book

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for High Velocity radio.

Stone Payton: [00:00:15] Welcome to the High Velocity Radio show, where we celebrate top performers producing better results and less time Stone Payton here with you this morning and you guys are in for such a real treat. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast author, speaker and lifestyle fitness coach Marianna Cadore. How are you?

Mariana Cadore: [00:00:38] I’m very good. This show honor to be here with you.

Stone Payton: [00:00:43] Oh, it is such a delight to have you on the show. You know, you and I got a chance to visit, I don’t know, maybe a week or so ago, and I should have just pressed record right then and there. I learned so much. I found the conversation so incredibly inspiring. I can’t wait to share your energy and your insight with our audience. Got a hundred questions or more? We won’t get to them all, but maybe the best place to start is for you to share with us your overall mission, purpose, what you feel like you’re really out there trying, trying to do for folks.

Mariana Cadore: [00:01:16] Yes. First of all, my mission is to change one person, one person per time. They are hope towards achieving better results in life as it is in weight loss, as it is in feeling happier. I just want people to feel seen. And so to know that they can achieve whatever they dream of. And my my new book is all about weight loss and why people being failing on diets and how they can achieve what they so much want and deserve.

Stone Payton: [00:01:56] So we have to share the title of this book right out of the box because it is more so. So share the title and maybe some of what you learned as you were putting this book together and and doing your work.

Mariana Cadore: [00:02:08] Yes. So the name of the book is F the Diet. You complete the F, But I have to say, and F stands for forget No the other F, and it’s how to get off of the weight loss rollercoaster and lose one kilogram per week. And what I discovered during my 20 years working with people, it is they are prone to go for this exercise more, eat less, and then they are going to pick a diet. And what’s happened is they have the best intentions. But then just before they they always start on Monday, isn’t it, starting Monday or January. So then just before they start on Friday, they start to feel like, oh, I got to eat everything I want because from Monday I cannot anymore. So they start over eating and then on Monday they do it exactly by the book and probably we oh, wait ourself in the first day, second day, do I get the results I read or what is because we are suffering. The main point is we overeat before because we think is something that we’re going to suffer is something painful for us. You taking away from me, something that I really love. So I got to have this because I’m going to suffer for this time and our bodies know made for to go towards suffering. Our body and body is made to go towards the pleasurable thing that we we perceive as pleasure and avoid something that we perceive is painful is yes.

Mariana Cadore: [00:04:04] So when we when we go towards something that is painful and not going to last much. So that’s what diet does with us. And the problem is once you go for a diet and you put all your hopes and you believe and you tell someone and after ten days you cannot cope anymore with this diet, nevertheless, the consequence on the body where we can talk very soon, you start, you don’t believe in yourself. You think you are a failure. And that’s what I don’t want people to think you are not a failure. Is the system fail or new? You didn’t fail. The system was wrong, you know. And therefore, because of this reason I decide to do this book, I, I cannot believe people will think they are less worth because of the weight their bodies holding today. I. Ome want people to believe they are worth and in their weight. So I want people to look themselves today and see how beautiful and perfect they are. So just looking in the mirror like I’m beautiful. And from this mindset we start something beautiful and little things that can change everything and you going towards pleasure. That’s how we can do a change on the lifestyle. That is little change that will last a life long. And you can maintain a life long because nobody wants to lose for one moment, maximum six months and put it all back, isn’t it?

Stone Payton: [00:05:45] So what you described a moment ago, going through the more traditional kind of dieting process, I would think that that would create a great deal of stress for most people. And that cannot be good for you, huh?

Mariana Cadore: [00:06:01] That’s completely right. First of the things I I see is people need to be so healthy to go in diets because they going to put so much threat in the body. The body will not like when you change your. Let’s say you are eating 2500 calories and you change for 800 now. So you build die starvation. The body will go completely in threat so will activate mechanism for your survival. And the first thing that will do it, it will this regulate you hormonally. So everything you eat now, the body will make sure it is storage or new because it cannot pursue another starvation like this is a survival mechanism. That’s how we got so far as a species. So we cannot take this. If you go for this mode where the body understand is starvation, it will trigger this hormone imbalance to keep you and for you to survive. So will this regulate hormones and will lower your metabolism. So let’s use The Biggest Loser. This program. The Biggest Loser. Yeah. So. Yeah. Incredible. Scientists follow the winners for six years. And throughout these six winners, they lost so much weight was just unbelievable. We all got inspired saying, But the problem is, throughout the years they put it back, the full weight and more. And this scientists show why because now they were hunger with more hunger than ever, because they this regulate the mechanism that builds satiety. You feel like, oh, I ate enough, I don’t need anymore. This was dysregulated. So they feel hungry the whole day through.

Stone Payton: [00:08:09] Hmm.

Mariana Cadore: [00:08:10] Well, other than this, the body was burning less calories. So they have to eat so little just to maintain the weight in this disregulation less for up to six years. So everybody put all the weight back and everybody knows there was one person that didn’t put the weight back was one lady. And the only thing that happened with her is she transformed her life. She became a health coach. So her lifestyle was different. Everything she do at few and think was different so she could maintain the weight she lost. And she was not the one that won the program in the first place. She did the great weight loss, but she was not the the one that lost the most. But she could transform herself from the inside out, and that could last a life long. So it’s all these things that we see it and we know and we cannot keep seeing people failing on this. And and and few okay with this is we have a food industry made for profit. They are not concerned about your future and we now have an epidemic of obesity is very clear for us is the children up to 50% are considered obese now in America and then we have adults is just crazy. The numbers and even though I believe you should look, doesn’t matter your weight should look yourself in the mirror and find yourself beautiful because you are. But if you want to have a life with a quality of life above and beyond, if you want to feel amazing to do everything you imagine, you need a bottom body that follows you in your mind. So you need a body that is fit, that can cope with everything is healthy. And we now know that fatty fat tissue is responsible for great numbers of cases of diabetes, cancer and all the harsh disease. So we cannot just look like you look beautiful and stay where you are. You look beautiful. But I want you to feel amazing and to to be super healthy so you can really enjoy life. And this demand losing a bit of excess fat.

Stone Payton: [00:11:00] So when and how did this work start for you? What got you started doing this work?

Mariana Cadore: [00:11:08] Yes, for me it was I had the fight I had with food since I was a teenager. I really had no food freedom. I just love food. I still love with all. I really love food. I love cooking. I love all of this bit. So those packed meat you say to you, don’t eat that, but eat it. Once you connect with yourself, you’re going to know what to eat. So for me, I would eat too much and then feel guilt and train like crazy and and like put 18 kilos in six months. That’s something that had happened in my life. And and how this process of eating and then feeling really horrible about myself, how could I not control myself? How could so feeling really bad. So there was no pleasure. A part of the moment I was eating later on was just was a hell to be my body. And there was a moment as well when I had anorexia because I want to be a model. I was just 15 years old and I want to be a model. So they told me I had to lose weight. I was not fat at this moment. Yeah, I had a really good body. But, you know, models at this time was really, really skinny. So I decided I would lose 14 kilos. And and then I really had anorexia. And I just discovered I was knowing the right pet when I went to school. And one of my teachers was measuring the heart rate of all the students. And when he came to me, my heart rate was 32 and he told them, must not be right. And I knew I should be around 60 minimum. And I thought, Wow, I’m killing myself.

Mariana Cadore: [00:13:08] I’m going to die very soon. And I very soon out that people were saying to me I was too skinny. There was no good. All these thoughts start to pile up on my brain and I decide to start eating. But, you know, I didn’t solve the problem. So I just found the other side of the coin which was eating stop. So I didn’t solve the problem. I just went to the other side. So for me, most of the times, stop eating or eating too much is quite a similar thing, is is something that you need to deal with and you need to get freedom off so you can live a life that you love, eat things that you love, but the food, love your back. You know, it’s not this love when you love the food, but the food doesn’t love you. The food love you back and give you energy and give you like great thoughts and great emotions during the time and after. So it is this that I really discover is food freedom. Let’s reset your body. And it might be in many. There is many ways done that could be in your body and could be a system problem, could be a stress, could be lack of movement in your life and lifestyle. It could be that you don’t know how to eat and eating, paying attention like properly enjoying food. Because if we love food, we we must enjoy when we eat. So all of these details is what I decide to target. You have a pretty holistic feel that everybody can apply and start to have the transformation from the inside out with joy. Well, with joy because life is too short for suffering.

Stone Payton: [00:15:04] So you write about these topics. Obviously you’re a professional speaker, so you speak to to these topics and you are a lifestyle fitness coach, so you have a coaching practice. Tell us a little bit more about the about the coaching. How does that work?

Mariana Cadore: [00:15:20] Yes, So I have people going towards my reset method, which is a beautiful journey. People go 90 days where they go in a group and they have some one on one consultation with me, but they go in a group and we go through a journey of transforming them the way they eat, the way they think. So whatever they think, their behavior is a line, you know, we all know what we should be eating, but why don’t we eat what we should be eating? So there is a reason and that has to be addressed. So we go together and so many times the group give it this, this such a safe place and embracing that people get so much strength. So it’s not just me, but the power of a few people together working towards the same goal and transforming their lives. So it is just beautiful with 90 short days where you can really discover yourself and change your life once and for all. When you start to enjoy life completely different and more powerfully.

Stone Payton: [00:16:33] So I get the sense in talking to you that it’s not about it’s really not about willpower. It’s more willpower is not the key, is it?

Mariana Cadore: [00:16:45] No, because willpower we depend on one day of the moment, you know, the right sunshine, the right thing. So we depend on so many. Circumstance is no about willpower is about a decision and then discipline that we go forward. But always finding this energy that is full of joy where I teach people how to go to this energy where you can command your emotions and from that place you can have discipline because it’s joyful what you’re going to do. It is joyful. For how you are transforming your life for the better is no depriving from pleasure, which is what diets are about. It is really going towards a life full of joy, happiness and fulfillment. And you know, we high performance love. This is stuff. We love to have the best life as we can.

Stone Payton: [00:17:46] So tell us about the experience of of writing the book. Many of our listeners are entrepreneurs, aspiring entrepreneurs, and I know some of them feel like they have a book in them. What was that like? Did the book come together pretty easily or were there parts of it that were a lot of work?

Mariana Cadore: [00:18:06] That’s a great question. The book didn’t come from me very easy. If I had a problem in this life was to write. My mother language is Portuguese and I just hate Portuguese, so I hate writing. I have everything in my brain. So the book came because all of my clients say, Mariana, you have such a great methodology. We want to share with her friends, family. We want people to know what you do. But could you make this available for more people? And then I start to think, okay, I need to put this in paper. And that took me quite a long time to be able to put it. And I gave a lot of work for my editors as well. But, you know, once you want to do something, once you decide that I’m going to do a book. Everything is touchy for one place. I will not say that was easy for me, was not never something that I inspired to do it. But I see so much value in it that I couldn’t resist but should do it. So is it really if you decide that you’re going to do it, you’re going to find a way decided why is important and how will come to you.

Stone Payton: [00:19:26] It seems like you have so many ways to to serve the people who you are trying to to reach you. You have the book. You have the professional speaking. You have this coaching practice, and you’ve done some radio shows where you’re on the other side of the microphone, right? Like where you’re doing the interviewing or sharing the thoughts, the thought leadership. What’s that been like for you?

Mariana Cadore: [00:19:51] Well, so yes, I have a podcast, call it F the Diet. And so my mission is big. I want to leave a legacy in this world. So I do all of this and it’s great to have a podcast because you discover great minds and you just listen great stories, great thoughts, and you can learn so much like you guys are doing listening this incredible radio. And this is just phenomenal part of this. I go in companies and I put a program to the to the employees to go above and beyond. And it’s just sorting out what is going in this company. How can we bring these people for their best self so they can really perform? So I’m fascinated about human beings and how can I help with everything that I discover and everything that people taught me and mentors, books, everything that I learned through this whole journey I’ve been through so far, and how can I shortcut the results? And it is really beautiful and that’s what motivate me. And I won’t stop here. I have more projects and more because I have a mission. I really have a mission.

Stone Payton: [00:21:11] Well, I am so inspired by your work. Personally, I know our listeners are as well, and I’m really enamored. I’m very attracted to that. You’re helping people sort of escape the cycle of of trying a diet and failing because I got to I got to believe that really wears on a person and kind of that cannot be good for you when you try and fail and try and fail, that’s not good for you mentally, physically or any of that, right?

Mariana Cadore: [00:21:41] Yes. Ace, we’ve got to stop with this because we know better than this right now. The problem is really a lot of the knowledge is stop because people are greed for profit. So the ones that are not great for this and can share what is the way that we can really change the life. We have to do it. We have to do it because each one of us in this world are so important and so unique. Unless each one of us go to our best self, we cannot have the best world as we can. You know, each person have something that I don’t have. So what I can do for them is bringing them to the best place. And we can never deny our bodies because we see life throughout the lenses of our bodies. If you if any day in your life you think, No, no, no. It’s just the mind that matters. It’s just this that matters. Think about your way from an upset tummy and think if you could think great things in your life and dream about the future. No, You just dealing about today, you’re just surviving. So it’s so important for us to take care of this vessel, this body, before it calls attention of us, before it starts to say like I had too much. So if we can think beforehand, I start to think about my body after I took for granted my body for many, many years. And when I had an autoimmune disease called fibromyalgia is when I realized that I took for granted my health, my body. I was overusing my body without taking care and was in the process of healing this autoimmune disease that I realized that most of the people still have problems with self care. And I’m here to wake up people to say like, Oh, it’s a blessing to have a body that is working well, or even if it’s not still a blessing, there is things that are working well. So let’s take care of this and this body will give you ten times forward. Back to you.

Stone Payton: [00:24:09] Okay, Let’s make it easy for our listeners to get in touch with you. Have a conversation with you or someone on your team. Let’s make sure that they can easily access the the book. So whatever you think is appropriate, let’s give them website, LinkedIn, email. I want to make sure that that folks can connect with you and tap into this work so they can become their best selves.

Mariana Cadore: [00:24:33] Thank you. So my website is marianna ca dotcom. So m a r. I. A. N. Acad0re dot com. And my Instagram is Marianna the score Cardone and you can date me, you can talk. Tell me you saw something in the radio and we’re going to have a good chat and I will be able to help you somehow.

Stone Payton: [00:25:05] Well, Marianna, it has been such a delight having you on on the show. This has been inspiring, informing. Please keep up the good work you’re doing. You’re doing marvelous things and we so sincerely appreciate you. Thank you for investing the time with us today.

Mariana Cadore: [00:25:24] Thank you so much. And you will be happy.

Stone Payton: [00:25:29] All right. Until next time, this is Stone Payton for our guests today and everyone here at the Business RadioX family saying we’ll see you in the fast lane.

 

BRX Pro Tip: Improve Faster by Habit Stacking

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BRX Pro Tip: Improve Faster by Habit Stacking

Stone Payton: [00:00:00] And we are back with Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, from your perspective, can you really improve better, faster by habit stacking?

Lee Kantor: [00:00:13] Yeah. There’s a lot of books being written about habits and the benefits of developing good productive habits, and habit stacking falls within that as well. A simple thing that I do every day just for my own life, I take some supplements. And I was always forgetting to take the supplement, so what I did is I put the supplements near my coffee because I drink coffee every day. That happens every single day. So, I drink coffee, and while the coffee’s brewing, I take my vitamins. So, I’ve stacked the habit of taking supplements with the habit of drinking coffee.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:48] Another thing that I do in business, at the end of every show I produce, I explain what happens next with the content. And at that point I was like, “You know what? I’m not getting enough referrals of guests.” So, what I did is while I’m explaining what happens next is to remind them, “Hey, you know, we get our best guests from our existing guest, so if you know any other interesting guests we should be interviewing, please send it my way.” And that sentence just added to the thing that I was normally saying to them has resulted in more guests.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:20] So, it’s just one of those things where you find an activity that you think is beneficial and then just add it to something you’re already doing anyway. So, you’re stacking one habit on top of another and it just makes it easier to execute on this kind of relentless way.

Rome Floyd Chamber Small Business Spotlight – Julie McCluskey and Drew Davidson with Rome Shakespeare Festival, Jennie Cook with Chieftains Museum/Major Ridge Home, and John Cowman with Wings Over North Georgia

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BRX Pro Tip: Own Your Own Communication Channel

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