You can feel it when someone is truly listening. The pace slows. The questions sharpen. The space feels safe enough to share the real story. That’s the heart of this conversation as we dive into how active listening transforms sales calls, team meetings, and family moments into places where trust and action thrive.

We unpack the everyday traps that break connection—like “boomerang” questions that swing back to ourselves and nodding along while planning a rebuttal. Then we offer practical tools to flip the script. Our go-to is the AMP method: Ask with intention to surface what matters, Mirror the words and emotions you hear to show you’re present, and Paraphrase to confirm understanding before you respond. We talk about reading tone and body language, letting silence work for you, and spotting when a stated need is really a symptom of something deeper.

Presence isn’t just a mindset; it’s logistics. We share simple habits that send powerful signals of care: silence your phone, close your laptop, and if your mind is crowded, set a short, specific time to reconnect so you can give full attention. We connect these behaviors to leadership and team culture, showing how genuine listening drives buy-in and trust, referencing insights aligned with The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Along the way, we point to public examples—Oprah’s interviews and Princess Diana’s human connection—as models of listening that invites honesty rather than performance.

Finally, we turn inward. If you don’t listen to yourself, it’s hard to be present for anyone else. We talk about clearing mental noise, checking your body’s signals, and preparing questions that guide without hijacking. Expect tangible takeaways you can use in your next one-on-one, client meeting, or hard talk at home. If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a colleague, and leave a quick review telling us one habit you’ll change to be a better listener.

Struggle isn’t a detour from growth; it’s the road. We sat down to explore how leaders and teams can turn rough stretches into real momentum by treating resilience as a trained system, not a motivational spike. The conversation starts with self‑awareness—the honest audit of strengths, limits, and habits that lets you see the moment you’re drifting into comparison or denial. From there, we shift into the gain vs gap mindset: measure how far you’ve come to unlock the confidence to take the next five steps, then the five after that.

We dig into practical ways to accept hard realities without getting stuck in them. Think obstacle as the way forward: study the problem, name it clearly, and move through it with intention. Athletes do this instinctively—short memories after mistakes, training to failure to grow stronger—and leaders can too. We walk through building “doomsday” playbooks for your business, rehearsing them before you need them, and creating micro‑challenges that expand your comfort zone on purpose. Ready beats merely prepared when the punch finally lands.

Purpose becomes the anchor when things wobble. Mission and vision aren’t wall art; they’re centering tools that decide priorities under pressure. We share simple anchors like an “attitude first‑aid kit,” visual reminders on your route, and kind self‑talk that pairs grace with grit. You’ll hear why sustainable progress matters more than heroic swings and how to personalize motivation—whether you’re fueled by quiet reminders or a clear target to chase. If you’re navigating a setback or just want to fortify your mindset before the next curveball, this conversation gives you a playbook you can put to work today.

If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs a lift, and leave a review with your favorite takeaway so we can bring more practical tools your way.

We trade the pressure to “know it all” for a practical playbook on staying curious while leading teams and growing a business. From ultramarathon goals to SOPs, we show how to schedule learning, reward smart questions, and turn feedback into action.

• setting attainable goals to build momentum
• using curiosity to widen perspective and reduce blind spots
• building connection through better questions
• adding SWOT and debriefs into SOPs
• rewarding learning behavior, not only results
• balancing consistency with experimentation
• reading beyond your field and applying ideas
• linking curiosity with resilience and iteration

Thank you to our sponsors: Carolina Bay’s Homes and McLeod Health Foundation

We sit down with Eden to unpack how a simple pizza meetup can change the landscape for young adults with disabilities, from isolation to community, from coping to confidence. We share practical ways leaders can remove barriers and build teams where everyone thrives.

• why local support vanishes after school for many young adults with disabilities
• how a peer-led pizza meetup creates real connection and networking
• what stereotypes get wrong about autism and disability
• why “high functioning” and “low functioning” labels harm
• constructive coping strategies that beat destructive shortcuts
• strength-based coaching for self-advocacy and career readiness
• the social model of disability and workplace design
• leadership practices for clarity, feedback and universal design
• event details, RSVP info and age range

Make sure you like and share us on your social media of preference

We break down how to pair courage with humility so leaders can act with conviction, invite feedback, and keep learning without sliding into arrogance. Stories from sports and sales make the ideas practical and repeatable for work and home.

• personal mastery theme with a focus on confident humility
• examples from Gandhi, Joe Gibbs, and NBA leadership
• confidence as reps and skill building over time
• Dunning–Kruger effect and how to avoid overconfidence
• accountability circles and consent before giving advice
• sales lessons on listening, service, and curiosity
• practical questions to spot blind spots and stay grounded
• teaser for next episode on curiosity and continuous learning

Thank you, Carolina Bays Real Estate and Construction, the Modern Homes Podcast, and McLeod Health for the support.

A bowl game should feel bigger than four quarters, and that’s exactly what we’ve built on the Grand Strand. We sit down with Tony Ferrante to unpack how the Myrtle Beach Bowl moved from an ambitious idea in 2018 to a nationally televised showcase that lifts players, fans, and the local economy—all while keeping the beach-town heart intact.

Tony takes us behind the scenes on the ESPN partnership and conference tie-ins with the Sun Belt, MAC, and Conference USA, explaining why Myrtle Beach stood out: a unique destination, strong civic support, and a perfect venue at Brooks Stadium in Conway. We talk through the 2020 launch during COVID, the careful operations it demanded, and the steady growth since—measured in attendance, broadcast viewership, and hotel nights that fuel small businesses through the holidays. You’ll hear how selections really happen, including last year’s Coastal Carolina storyline and what it means to prepare when you might learn your teams minutes before the reveal.

We go deep on what makes a great bowl experience for student-athletes: extra practice time for coaches, real rewards off the field, and thoughtful touches like team nights at Dave & Buster’s and Topgolf. Tony shares insights from three decades in college athletics at Troy—what travel itineraries work, which details matter most to players, and how consistent processes keep chaos out of game week. We also dive into community and sponsorship strategy: why local partners like Visit Myrtle Beach and the chambers are essential, how brands benefit from aligning with a rising regional event, and simple marketing moves that stand out, like swag people actually keep.

If you care about sports business, leadership, or the magic that happens when a city rallies behind an idea, you’ll find a playbook worth borrowing. The Myrtle Beach Bowl kicks off Friday, December 19 at noon. Join us, subscribe for more behind-the-scenes conversations, and leave a review to tell us who you want to see take the field next.

Think about the last time you wrote someone off with a quick label—she’s not a closer, he’s not a people person, they won’t click with that client. That tiny sentence didn’t just describe reality; it helped create it. We dig into the real difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset, why leaders’ words ripple through a team, and how small shifts in language can transform performance, accountability, and morale.

Rob and Nick lay out a practical playbook for leaders who want results without burning out their people. We explore how to turn failures into data, why recognition should connect to skills learned (not just outcomes), and how to set up blameless postmortems that reveal where the Swiss cheese holes lined up. You’ll hear simple phrase swaps that move conversations from labels to learning, plus a candid look at balancing growth with role fit, time constraints, and ROI. Matching people to their natural strengths matters; teaching the next high-leverage skill matters even more.

We also talk about what a 360 feedback process really shows, how to ask smarter questions in reviews, and why managers have to adopt a growth mindset themselves before expecting it from others. Expect clear tools you can use today: self-assess prompts for employees, recognition that sticks, and scripts for turning customer issues into trust-building moments. If you lead a business, a team, or a community group, these habits will help you build a culture where people choose ownership, practice deliberately, and see progress they can feel.

Enjoy the conversation? Follow the show, share it with a leader who needs it, and leave a quick review so more people can find us. Your feedback helps us grow too.

What happens when you pay to get “kidnapped” and come back with a mission? We sit down with speaker, author, and nonprofit founder Gina Casazza to trace the wild path from Hollywood sets and stand-up stages to a civilian SEER course where she learned the survival lesson that changed everything: belonging and fitting in are not the same. That insight became a children’s book, a school assembly program, and Empower Lit, a nonprofit designed to raise reading scores and self-esteem at the same time.

Gina shares how training with Team Eagle One, a Navy SEAL–led program, rewired her mindset about resilience, fear, and follow-through. She breaks down the moment she stopped trying to “fit” and chose to belong, and how that shift liberated her to create, teach, and lead. We dig into the literacy crisis—why only about 30 percent of students read at grade level, how over-testing and reduced creativity sap curiosity, and why kids need inspiration before instruction. Gina’s approach is practical and bold: bring authors into schools, make reading fun, secure funding so budgets aren’t a barrier, and launch a teen publishing pipeline that teaches editing, marketing, and entrepreneurial skills.

This conversation is also a toolkit for anyone feeling stuck. Gina explains why action precedes motivation, how to handle the steep early learning curve without quitting, and the daily question she asks to keep momentum: what is one thing I can do today that moves me forward tomorrow? We explore social media’s impact on kids’ confidence, the lost art of communication, and the simple truth that stories—especially our own—can be a lifeline for someone else.

If you care about education, youth mental health, or building a legacy that lasts, you’ll find strategies you can use right away. Subscribe, share this episode with a friend who needs a push, and leave a review to help more people discover the show. Your story might be the spark someone’s waiting for.