Normal Lies

Episode 88.   “… imagine  something comes so easily for me and I expect the person sitting next to me to be able to do what I do, their strengths are different than mine. They have other gifts that they bring to the table. So when we have those expectations, there can be some clashes and misunderstandings and  it's important for us to become familiar with the language of strengths and what to look for and how to appreciate people.”Nermine Zakhary is a practitioner of strengths, helping others strategically apply them to accelerate their performance, energy, relationships, and results! As a Certified People Acuity Coach™, Nermine coaches individuals and small groups. She also facilitates workshops to teach strengths strategies to clients so they can define their optimal zones -- and thrive there. This positive approach allows people to own who they are and empowers them to purposefully make their unique and impactful contributions to our world.Nermine shares: “I realized in that moment that I had spent the bulk of my adult life trying to live up to someone else's expectations and never feeling like I was meeting them.  Or I was always comparing myself to other people and, well, “why can't I be like so and so?" or “why can't I do what she does?” and never feeling good enough. And for the first time, it was okay to just be me.”“Sometimes if we're waiting for someone to notice what our gifts are or the environment to give us an opportunity to contribute, when we're in this waiting place, we don't use them at all because no one has invited us to this space with them.”“We're quick to notice our deficits, we're quick to notice the areas we need to work on to be better, and not appreciate and enjoy what we do have and what we bring and know the value that we bring to situations and relationships.”“We tend to be in a deficit thinking society. When we’ve accomplished something, we celebrate it for all of 30 seconds. And then we're quick to see, “what did I do wrong?” “Where can I do better?”  Well, no, wait a second. this is a big accomplishment. We need to slow down and celebrate and take in what is it that worked well? What did we do to make this a successful project? How can we do more of that?”Contact Nermine for more information and to set up a discovery call at Nermine@Strengths-Edge.com.Linda also makes an announcement about the future of this podcast. What came up for you as a result of this conversation?  Let Linda know by going to Normal-Lies.com and leave a review.  Linda reads every one and every month, she chooses one review to read on air.  Who knows, she may choose yours!If you have a question or a topic you'd like addressed on an upcoming episode, go to Normal-Lies.com and click the contact page to send Linda a message. Or, click on the microphone icon at the bottom right of the page to leave a voicemail. 

Episode 87.  “… I’ve been broke pretty much my entire adult life. but I've always had an abundance of food and that makes me feel rich.”Jamie Truppi has a passion for connecting the mind-body-spirit with healing foods and plants from the earth.Jamie’s life centers around food, people, nature, wellbeing, traveling, and cultivating meaningful experiences in this short, crazy life.As a functional nutritionist with a master’s degree in science and nutrition and board certified as a Certified Nutrition Specialist, Jamie guides her clients to go from gut-brain-stress dis-ease to healing. More from Jamie:“… food is just one extension of the bigger picture of my values, but it is one that comes up constantly because, for example, when we choose a home to live in… we don't have to make it again for a while… When we choose to buy a car, we do that once and we don't have to think about it again for quite a few years, hopefully. However with food, we're making these choices five, six, seven, eight times a day… We are constantly making food choices and it can be really distressing for people who don't know what to choose.” “I remember fearing when I was a vegan, I was like, “what if I decide I want meat someday, and here I am calling myself a vegan, and then everyone's gonna call me a hypocrite.  I'm gonna go down that road of judgment and criticism. So there's a lot of psychological distress around eating regardless of what the diet is.”“We just have to remember that it doesn't actually matter what other people think. What matters is what's right for us.”“… all of a sudden you start to expand your palate because you're like, “I wonder what that tastes like?” and this is food curiosity… and then we go back to psychological like, “oh gosh, I can't remove meat! I could never remove dairy. I don't know how I would function!” People have done harder things,  and if we get playful and think of it as an experiment through the lens of childlike eyes, it's “I wonder how would I feel without dairy for a week?”For more information about Jamie and to purchase her book, Clean Food, Messy Life: A food lover’s conscious journey back to self, visit: JamieTruppiNutrition.com.What came up for you as a result of this conversation?  Let Linda know by going to Normal-Lies.com and leave a review.  Linda reads every one and every month, she chooses one review to read on air.  Who knows, she may choose yours!If you have a question or a topic you'd like addressed on an upcoming episode, go to Normal-Lies.com and click the contact page to send Linda a message. Or, click on the microphone icon at the bottom right of the page to leave a voicemail. 

Episode 86. This episode is a compilation of Linda’s most recent guest's answers to her finale questions:What’s the best piece of advice you received when you were younger?A lie you wish you discovered sooner?What’s the thing that makes you, you?What is one change you’d like to see in the world & one action, even a baby step, that we can take right now so we can move toward that change? Hear from:Luz Flores Lee, from episode 75,  How to Navigate Change and ThriveJill Nagle, from episode 76, Exposing Myths of White SupremacyPrithvi Madhukar, from episode 77, How our Passion can Lead to BurnoutMelissa Davis, from episode 79, From Competition to CollaborationKeltie Maguire, from episode 80, Question Your Choices and Discover PossibilitiesErin Halligan-Avery, from episode 81, Caring & Empathy: A New Path to Leadership & Success in BusinessAvadhi Dhruv, from episode 82, Uncover Your Inner GuruClick the links above to listen to their full episodes,  find out how to contact them and follow them on social media .What about you? How would you respond?What came up for you as a result of this conversation?  Let Linda know by going to Normal-Lies.com and leave a review.  Linda reads every one and every month, she chooses one review to read on air as she did in this episode.  Who knows, she may choose yours!If you have a question or a topic you'd like addressed on an upcoming episode, go to Normal-Lies.com and click the contact page to send Linda a message. Or, click on the microphone icon at the bottom right of the page to leave a voicemail. Be sure to follow Linda on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Linked In.

Episode 85. “Collecting business cards isn’t networking. I tell people, getting someone's card or adding someone on LinkedIn and saying they're in your network, that's like swiping right on a dating app and saying, this person is now your significant other.”From tracking criminals and terrorists on the dark web to creating marketplaces and new authentication systems, Mark Herschberg has spent his career launching and developing new ventures at startups and Fortune 500s and in academia, with over a dozen patents to his name. Mark helped start the Undergraduate Practice Opportunities Program, dubbed MIT’s “career success accelerator,”  is the author of The Career Toolkit: Essential Skills for Success That No One Taught You as well as the creator of the Brain Bump app. This conversation runs the gamut, from networking to ethics to leadership:“… every time I meet someone, I think “Nice to meet you. What can I do to help?” Now, I'm not gonna show up and move your couch, but maybe there's other ways I can help you. And that is relationship building. You don't keep score with your friends, you don't keep score with your network.” “Leadership is about stepping up and getting people to follow you, but the good news is you can practice and develop these skills long before you have that title…”“I always get the sense ‘ethics,’ it’s the redheaded stepchild. Ethics is, “Well, after we have everything else, our profitability, our leadership and everything else. . . if we have time… we'll get to ethics…”For more information about Mark and to purchase his book, The Career Toolkit: Essential Skills for Success That No One Taught You, visit: https://www.thecareertoolkitbook.com/To learn more about his Brain Bump app, go to: https://brainbumpapp.com/What came up for you as a result of this conversation?  Let Linda know by going to Normal-Lies.com and leave a review.  Linda reads every one and every month, she chooses one review to read on air.  Who knows, she may choose yours!If you have a question or a topic you'd like addressed on an upcoming episode, go to Normal-Lies.com and click the contact page to send Linda a message. Or, click on the microphone icon at the bottom right of the page to leave a voicemail.

Episode 84. “I don't drink anymore. I haven't had a drink in almost three years, so why do I have to tell the world I'm an alcoholic? I'm a non-drinker, I'm not an alcoholic. I did have an issue with alcohol. I was drinking problematically. They call it Alcohol Use Disorder, but I addressed the problem and I fixed it.  I don't drink anymore so how can I continue to call myself powerless over alcohol and addicted to alcohol and I have alcoholism as a disease if I don't drink?”Jennifer Salzman once considered herself a 'normal' drinker. But as her marriage ended in 2012, she increasingly used alcohol to cope. She tried many times to cut down but consistently ended up drinking more than she wanted to. After struggling with her own unhealthy relationship with alcohol for eight years, Jennifer knew she must make a change, but didn’t like the idea of AA and having to label herself an alcoholic.Jennifer shares the story of her search for an alternative to AA, and how she found freedom from alcohol through the same science based, compassion led model she now uses in her one-on-one coaching and group coaching programs.In this episode, Jennifer  talks about her work as a certified Alcohol Freedom Life Coach, helping her clients make alcohol small and irrelevant in their lives so they can create a life they don’t want to escape from.You can reach Jennifer at AMightyRebel.com.Jennifer mentions the University of Washington and the University of Florida  joint scientific study of the alcohol-free lifestyle and, unfortunately, registration is closed. However, Jennifer would love to speak with you so be sure to reach out to her. What came up for you as a result of this conversation?  Let Linda know by going to Normal-Lies.com and leave a review.  Linda reads every one and every month, she chooses one review to read on air.  Who knows, she may choose yours!If you have a question or a topic you'd like addressed on an upcoming episode, go to Normal-Lies.com and click the contact page to send Linda a message. Or, click on the microphone icon at the bottom right of the page to leave a voicemail. 

Episode 83. “… those lies early on really informed a whole lifetime of shielding myself that really was unnecessary because we have unlimited capabilities that are never tapped if we just give every individual the opportunity to attempt them and strive, and see what they are capable of and take the limitations away from them.”Judy Schwingel’s story includes seizures due to epilepsy as a child and later in grade school, a diagnosis of dyslexia and a visual perception disorder. Judy experienced many societal biases, stigmas, and negative medical opinions that believed she was incapable of learning or overcoming her disabilities. These experiences, challenges, and the heroes in her life instilled in her a strong will to overcome and do anything she chooses. “If I can Imagine it, it can be done”, became Judy’s mantra in life.After many years working as a nurse, Judy felt drawn and Spiritually called to return to what she knows as her true God-given talents as a spiritual, nurturing, healing soul.As a Faith-based Master Transformational Life Coach,  Judy focuses on working with people in life-changing transitions struggling with what direction to take. She helps them light their divine Spirit's Power, and cultivate confidence, toward finding life's purpose, so they can set a new course in life.For more information about Judy and to contact her, visit: https://www.heartnsoulhlc.com What came up for you as a result of this conversation?  Let Linda know by going to Normal-Lies.com and leave a review.  Linda reads every one and every month, she chooses one review to read on air.  Who knows, she may choose yours!If you have a question or a topic you'd like addressed on an upcoming episode, go to Normal-Lies.com and click the contact page to send Linda a message. Or, click on the microphone icon at the bottom right of the page to leave a voicemail. 

Episode 82.  "... it's each individual person's duty in their life to fulfill on their purpose, and follow the path of their dharma and this is where the societal conditioning and all of those lies that we are set up with this notion of competition and all of this it totally takes us far away from what we're really supposed to be focusing on, our own true purpose, the path of dharma in life. And so this self discovery is the way that we discover and start living in alignment with our purpose and mission in life. Follow that path of dharma, which is the way to have abundance and fulfillment and freedom, true freedom in this life.”   Avadhi Dhruv is a spiritual business coach and an international bestselling author who helps heart-centered entrepreneurs reclaim the power in their businesses so they can create financial abundance and inner fulfillment, while making a positive impact in the world.After having a successful corporate career in engineering and management, Avadhi still felt the urge to explore her higher purpose in life. In 2014, she decided to embark on an entrepreneurial journey to connect with her inner genius and uncover the best way in which she was meant to serve the world.Avadhi founded the brand, Avadhi.guru™, with the intention of bringing a holistic approach to business.Her clients have included budding entrepreneurs to leaders of multi‐million dollar international businesses who have successfully made transformational changes in their businesses and lives.Avadhi believes that every human has entrepreneurial potential, and every entrepreneur has an Inner Genius that deserves to be expressed so that business owners can have an abundant and fulfilling life.A taste of Avadhi’s  genius: “… I realized that actually there's one thing there is no competition for, and that is being yourself, being your true self, the true authentic self. Because there's only one of you in the world, not only right now, but if you look at the entire history of the world and the future, there will never be another person with the unique experiences, background, skills, talents, everything that you are.”“A heart-centered entrepreneur, quite literally, is centered and connected with their heart and soul and passion and purpose in life. And their passion and purpose in life is what propels them to make a positive difference or a progressive impact in the world.”“We are all facing this problem of burnout and this book really goes into a lot of examples and actionable guidance to help people overcome that burnout and really connect with their true purpose so they can live a meaningful and rewarding life. At the end of this life feel like, “Yes, I lived it, I lived my life and I loved it fully.” “I even have a whole post on social media that says it's not your job to make other people's dreams come true. It is your responsibility to make your life and your dreams come true because those dreams and desires were planted in your heart for a reason.”For more information about Avadhi, visit: Avadhi.guruFor more information about Avadhi's book, visit: https://www.avadhi.guru/book.htmlWhat came up for you as a result of this conversation?  Let Linda know by going to Normal-Lies.com and leave a review.  Linda reads every one and every month, she chooses one review to read on air.  Who knows, she may choose yours!If you have a question or a topic you'd like addressed on an upcoming episode, go to Normal-Lies.com and click the contact page to send Linda a message. Or, click on the microphone icon at the bottom right of the page to leave a voicemail. 

Episode 81.  “… people appreciate my leadership style, which is one of caring and empathy and really trying to relate with people but still have standards and expectations. But, because I couldn't see myself in a lot of the people that were in these positions, I sort of assumed that that meant that I can't be me and … I didn't know how to reconcile that.”Dr. Erin Halligan-Avery never set out to be an entrepreneur. In fact, she was quite content working in Higher Education, Student Affairs in roles helping students who were struggling and even developed the ConcernCenter system - which has now become her full time business - while working in one of these positions. Slowly, methodically, and with the unending support of friends, colleagues and family, Erin and her team grew ConcernCenter into a business that now helps over 3.5 million people find the support they need, when they need it. Erin is discerning, compassionate, unscripted and fun. She is someone who knows that a successful business can be built solely on a foundation of care and compassion for others and is looking to change the world, one ConcernCenter search at a time.Erin talks to Linda about how she created her authentic style of leading and how we can begin to live more authentically too:“I would watch those who had positions that I thought I was aspiring to be in, and how they would act and I would think, okay, this is how you're supposed to behave or what is going to be required of you if you're going to be in this type of role. You have to be incredibly diplomatic sometimes, diplomatic at the expense of authenticity. And I thought, “Am I able to do that?” And it was very clear to me that I don't do that really well.” “Announcing who I am or where I am before I get there, for me is a sign of respect that I care enough about this group of people that I'm letting you in on where I am right now so that we can do meaningful work together. And I fully embrace and love when people are able to do the same.” “I love when people come as who they are, but we need to also acknowledge that coming as who you are, is either going to be for people or not for people. There’s a meme that goes around that it’s like “You're not everybody's cup of tea.” And I agree with that. I, myself am not everybody's cup of tea. And that's okay.”“I do think that some people would be like, “Okay, I can be myself when I'm with my best friends, but I can't be myself when I'm talking to my child's teacher.” And the reality is, you can be whomever you really are at the end of the day with both of those people, but your best friends and your child's teacher are gonna have two very different reactions to whomever you're giving to them. And you just have to understand that you can unapologetically be yourself, but know that there are consequences potentially, or repercussions, or just reactions that people may have, that they are also allowed to have, to who you are and who you're giving to the world.”Learn about ConcernCenter at: ConcernCenter.com To contact Erin: Erin@ConcernCenter.comWhat came up for you as a result of this conversation?  Let Linda know by going to Normal-Lies.com and leave a review.  Linda reads every one and every month, she chooses one review to read on air.  Who knows, she may choose yours!If you have a question or a topic you'd like addressed on an upcoming episode, go to Normal-Lies.com and click the contact page to send Linda a message. Or, click on the microphone icon at the bottom right of the page to leave a voicemail. 

Episode 80. “… one of the great joys of my life is to really question how I'm living and the choices I'm making. Whether things need to be a certain way, whether I want them to be a certain way and, it's not just related to “do I want kids or not.” Keltie Maguire is a Clarity Coach who helps business owners and professionals get clear on what they want so they can feel confident knowing their life is the one they choose. When Linda saw a  post written by Keltie about something  rarely talked about, people/couples choosing to be child-free, she knew she had to have her as a guest.  This is a conversation about choices:“It's this question of: do I need to have a single job or career over my lifetime? ...we know that shifted and changed a lot over the past two, three generations, but there's still, for a lot of people, this idea, I can't make a change, I call it holding yourself hostage to past choices or to your past self. Because past you decided something, you feel like you have to continue making that same choice or living by that same choice.”"I think really just encouraging people to be intentional and if you feel dissatisfied, or even if it's just this small niggling that maybe there's something else for you in life, maybe there's more possibility to be explored."“…  asking the question, What do I want? And then further to that, why do I want this? it's something that we so rarely take the time to ask ourselves, and it's a big one that I help my clients answer. What do I want? And it's one that, when I pose that to people, (they're) are like, "What do you mean what do I want? I've never even thought about that before.”You can reach Keltie through her website: KeltieMaguire.com. Follow Keltie on Instagram,  Facebook or Linked In What came up for you as a result of this conversation?  Let Linda know by going to Normal-Lies.com and leave a review.  Linda reads every one and every month, she chooses one review to read on air.  Who knows, she may choose yours!If you have a question or a topic you'd like addressed on an upcoming episode, go to Normal-Lies.com and click the contact page to send Linda a message. Or, click on the microphone icon at the bottom right of the page to leave a voicemail. 

Episode 79. “… entrepreneurship can feel really lonely. And the reason that it feels really lonely is because I believe we isolate ourselves based on this competitive, usually adopted, mindset or collective behavior that we have around entrepreneurship. And the reality is that we are part of this amazing, brilliant ecosystem of entrepreneurs, and small businesses and not for profits, in a community. And together we create value for each other and we create value for the community. And the stronger we're connected into that ecosystem, the better we do.” Melissa DavisMelissa Davis is a startup clarity coach & founder of Humanity inc. Her mission is to connect entrepreneurs, leaders, & changemakers, to each other and to the resources they need to create more impact in the world. She believes that when we come together on the shared value of collaboration instead of competition, it has a rapid & compounding effect not just individually, but for the whole community. In her conversation with Linda, she shares:“… when we can kind of let down that idea of "I have competitors" and "it's my job to do this alone"  because I'm an entrepreneur because I chose to take this path where I have to figure all this out on my own. ... I want entrepreneurs to know, if you have the vision, you have the capacity, and that doesn't mean you have to do it alone.”“Having the capacity doesn't mean that you have to have the capacity to do all the little things, you don’t and you won't, and you shouldn't. What it means is that if you have the vision as an entrepreneur, to contribute, to make this impact, to do this thing you see it solving a problem.”“… if we can have the broader understanding of what our role is in this bigger ecosystem, then we're better able to perform in it. We're better able to connect with the people around us really effectively and to solve the problem because that's really the goal of entrepreneurship is to solve a problem or an anticipated problem.”“… if I can plug in as an entrepreneur and I can see the opportunities to plug into the ecosystem, that means to partner and work with other entrepreneurs and small businesses and not for profits to see the opportunities for my puzzle piece to fit in there, to be guided on designing my business around the idea that I'm a puzzle piece instead of the whole puzzle, then I'll see one, that I'm more successful, and two, I'll just simply be naturally incentivized to do that because, I believe that we'll see more success, less failure rates as entrepreneurs and, happier entrepreneurs if we can do that.”You can reach out to Melissa through her website HumanityInc.world or connect with Melissa on Linked In.What came up for you as a result of this conversation?  Let Linda know by going to Normal-Lies.com and leave a review.  Linda reads every one and every month, she chooses one review to read on air.  Who knows, she may choose yours!If you have a question or a topic you'd like addressed on an upcoming episode, go to Normal-Lies.com and click the contact page to send Linda a message. Or, click on the microphone icon at the bottom right of the page to leave a voicemail. Be sure to follow Linda on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Linked In. 

Episode 78. This is a compilation of Linda’s most recent guest's answers to her finale questions:What’s the best piece of advice you received when you were younger?A lie you wish you discovered sooner?What’s the thing that makes you, you?What is one change you’d like to see in the world & one action, even a baby step, that we can take right now so we can move toward that change? In order of appearance, you’ll  hear from: Dr. Rehnuma Karim (Episode 66) Mark Dulaney (Episode  67)Dr. Carla Fowler (Episode 69 & Episode 70)Valerie Dimino (Episode  71)Jonathan Goehring (Episode 72)Tanya Cole-Lesnick (Episode 73)Jackie Goddard (Episode 74)If you haven’t already, go to Normal-Lies.com to listen to their full episodes and find out how to contact them and follow them on social media .What about you? How would you respond?Linda also shares a review from one of her listeners. What came up for you as a result of this conversation?  Let Linda know by going to Normal-Lies.com and leave a review.  Linda reads every one and every month, she chooses one review to read on air as she did in this episode.  Who knows, she may choose yours!If you have a question or a topic you'd like addressed on an upcoming episode, go to Normal-Lies.com and click the contact page to send Linda a message. Or, click on the microphone icon at the bottom right of the page to leave a voicemail. Be sure to follow Linda on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Linked In.

Episode 77.  Prithvi Madhukar is known as The Marketing Nomad. Prit is the CEO of The Marketing Nomad LLC, a global Marketing Consultancy Firm in Delaware that, as of this year, has helped sixty-plus clients from eight different countries. Her podcast, The Marketing Nomad, is ranked in the top 100 in Marketing in India, and in the Top 10% Globally. Prit empowers business owners to confidently implement long-term marketing strategies to grow the business they love.  She is a digital entrepreneur and business owner with a passion for marketing and a zest for life. In this conversation, Prit shares how she found her passion and why she urges all of us to find and follow our passion. “…in that moment I made a small promise to myself that I would never, ever take my passion for marketing for granted, and I would make sure that I see it through, whatever it is. I'm going to make sure that I allow the passion to let me see my life and see where it can take me…”“…your passion is not something that you find. It's not something that you wake up one day and it magically appears at your doorstep. I don't believe that. I believe that your passion is something that has been cultivated over years and years and years, and it's so powerful that sometimes you may not even recognize it as passion.”“…one thing about passion is it comes as quickly as it goes because it very quickly leads to burnout. We are so used to doing what we love, that we don't even recognize when the burnout seeps in.  And your passion is, I would personally say this (as) I've not seen any studies out there, but I think that your passion is directly proportional to the burnout that you will face. Because you just get so deep into it, you don't realize it, and then the crash is absolutely devastating. So it's important for you to learn how to sustain that passion long term…”To contact Prit, find her podcast, get a copy of her book and learn more about her work, go to TheMarketingNomad.co.What came up for you as a result of this conversation?  Let Linda know by going to Normal-Lies.com and leave a review.  Linda reads every one and every month, she chooses one review to read on air.  If you have a question or a topic you'd like addressed on an upcoming episode, go to Normal-Lies.com and click the contact page to send Linda a message.Be sure to follow Linda on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Linked In.

Episode 76.   “… white supremacy mythology is so deeply embedded in the US culture… meaning images and stories on television and other places, and it's slippery and it's insidious and it's persistent.”Jill Nagle is an author, coach, facilitator, and founder of Evolutionary Workplace. Her aim is to help reduce harm to Black and Brown people, as well as support white people in liberating themselves from the effects of white supremacy’s toxic mythology.Change is hard and when faced with it, it’s human nature to ask, what’s in it for me?  Many white people are likely asking that question and are afraid that dismantling racism is going to cost them something. That’s exactly what Linda and Jill discuss:What is “white supremacy mythology?”How does blame, shame and guilt keep this mythology in place and, its effects on  ALL people? Understand the first step in helping to combat racism. Hint: It’s all about us. Jill also tells a story about her Aunt Phyllis's antiracism work and how it influenced her to carry on her legacy.Jill recently found  representation for her book, Skin in the Game: How White People Benefit from Dismantling White Supremacy. To contact Jill and learn more about her work, go to EvolutionaryWorkplace.com.What came up for you as a result of this conversation?  Let Linda know by going to Normal-Lies.com and leave a review.  Linda reads every one and every month, she chooses one review to read on air.  If you have a question or a topic you'd like addressed on an upcoming episode, go to Normal-Lies.com and click the contact page to send Linda a message.Be sure to follow Linda on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Linked In.

Episode 75.  “… if you're in a place where you know you need to make changes, if you're suffering, it's okay. The way to get through all of this, the way to get to what you actually want, is love and acceptance for all of you.”Luz Flores Lee coaches and trains individuals and teams around the one consistent challenge for all, change. Instead of ignoring the changes within and around us, Luz believes we must face it head-on and create adaptable systems that will grow with us so, she guides teams through a creative and healing process with love, compassion, and fun. As a result, they create sustainable improvements in our constantly changing world.Linda and Luz not only talk about change and how she incorporates her love of dancing into her coaching, but Linda explains why Luz is an important and pivotal person in her journey to becoming a coach. “Nothing is forever. We know this, but our brains don't always tell us that. We think, Oh my gosh, if I do this, I have to commit forever.  I'm a professor and I have lots of students and I have my kids, and they're like, Oh, but should I commit to this? I'm like, Commit to it, now. Decide if that's something you want to try. Everything we're doing is trying . There is no linear path. You do not have to check boxes and do this thing forever, but if it's something you think resonates, do it. Try it. Do it for a day, a week, month, years, whatever works for you in service of the vision and the goals that you have.”“I'm not as angry and reactive when someone makes a mistake or does something that's not healthy, I don't jump on them anymore because I'm not jumping on myself anymore. And my whole world opened up, my relationships opened up my, connections with people. My connections with myself are in a completely different place now.”“My entire worth was always attached to productivity. There's always attached to what you can do for others and how others felt around you. Versus how I felt like my needs never existed and I'm learning now to actually even consider them.” “I'm used to giving from me.  Instead, I keep my cup full, I give away from the overflow. And how much more powerful is that if I'm not giving you, what is taking away from me. I am giving you from abundance.”To contact Luz or learn more about her coaching services go to LovingAllofYou.com To register for her workshop, go to Thriving in Change on Eventbrite.https://www.eventbrite.com/e/thriving-in-change-tickets-396194246657What came up for you as a result of this conversation?  Let Linda know by going to Normal-Lies.com and leave a review.  Linda reads every one and every month, she chooses one review to read on air.  If you have a question or a topic you'd like addressed on an upcoming episode, go to Normal-Lies.com and click the contact page to send Linda a message.Be sure to follow Linda on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Linked In.

Episode 74. “…hopefully people will realize that there's nothing wrong with a bit of showing off and it's not showing off. It's just being confident…”Jackie Goddard has spent 30 years working in the arts. She’s been a High Street fashion designer and worked in the costume department of the Royal Shakespeare Company,  She’s been an actor, producer and director for the London and Edinburgh fringe and has spent the last 20 years working with adults and children, teaching them how to act and use their voice effectively.With Jackie’s company, Power To Speak, she uses her acting experience and training to coach business leaders, solopreneurs and professional speakers to use their voice and their story to show up confidently for their audience, customers and clients.Jackie shares her experience helping others gain confidence and success by becoming who they are through owning their story:“…this feeling that actually if you are showing up as yourself, then you are being seen as a show off or being arrogant. And actually what that does is that keeps people very small because they're frightened of showing up as themselves. And so we hide, we hide behind the character we think we should be. So we play rather than actually being…” “… that is really important what you have there, that knowledge you have, that that message you want to share is really important. As your audience, you are telling me this and I'm listening.  As an audience, I can tell you that this is worth sharing.”“Doesn't matter how successful you are. I mean I've worked with CFOs of some very big companies and even they have a certain amount of imposter syndrome. So I don't think anybody escapes that. There's always that little voice in our heads.” You can reach Jackie through her website, PowerToSpeak.co.uk or connect with Jackie on LinkedIn.Find Power To Speak on YouTube or Apple Podcast. What came up for you as a result of this conversation?  Let Linda know by going to Normal-Lies.com and leave a review.  Linda reads every one and every month, she chooses one review to read on air.  If you have a question or a topic you'd like addressed on an upcoming episode, go to Normal-Lies.com and click the contact page to send Linda a message.Be sure to follow Linda on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Linked In.

Episode 73.   “… to me, the secret to a life that is satisfying and has peace and happiness in it, is learning how to connect to yourself.”Tanya Cole-Lesnick has been a psychotherapist (licensed clinical social worker) and coach since 1995. She received her master’s degree in social work from New York University after group therapy changed her life.  Tanya helps clients access and honor their truth,  change habits that don’t serve them, and heal faulty narratives so that they begin living in alignment inside and out. Her work revolves around a combination of intimate therapeutic groups and individual sessions, as the sharing of inner worlds and being human together in a safe space—collectively and individually—is an incredibly powerful combination that leads to lasting transformation.In this episode, Tanya shares: “… connecting to other people on their inner journeys and having the support from the therapist helped me connect to myself, discover who I was. I went into that experience feeling very flawed, and I think through the process I realized, “Oh, I'm not flawed. I'm just human.” “… at the core, is the figuring out what your truth is, what that means. It's a complicated question, but as people start to identify that and connect to that part of themselves, I just see lives unfolding where people feel more peaceful, more joyful, and have more meaning in their lives when they're able to do that.”“… One of the things that I've had to unlearn is people pleasing tendencies, and I think that came out of this feeling of I have to be a certain way in order to be loved, in order to not be abandoned.  And,  there was a period of time when I felt like, okay, I've gotta show up a certain way.  Which first of all, is exhausting. And second of all, led to other things like, I wasn't honoring myself. I wasn't checking in with myself first. I might have been saying “yes” to other people before deciding whether it was something I wanted to say yes to. "You can learn more about Tanya and, schedule a a complimentary Discovery session at  GroupWithTanya.com or  TanyaCole-Lesnick.com. What came up for you as a result of this conversation?  Let Linda know by going to Normal-Lies.com and leave a review.  Linda reads every one and every month, she chooses one review to read on air.  If you have a question or a topic you'd like addressed on an upcoming episode, go to Normal-Lies.com and click the contact page to send Linda a message.Be sure to follow Linda on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Linked In.

Episode 72.  “Things are not the way they used to be. And a lot of times when people who will criticize the younger generation will say that we are soft, that we don't work hard.  They're thinking of what hard work was like for them when they were our age.”Jon Goehring is a voiceover artist and audio producer specializing in creating radio commercials and imaging, narrating audiobooks, and bringing brands to life through sound. Jon is a Rochester native and holds a Masters Degree in Media Management from The Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. He’s also 23 years old, newly married and a proud member of Gen Z. Jon and Linda explore the myths and stereotypes of the generations, specifically Baby Boomers, Millennials and Gen Z.Some wisdom from Jon:“… (Baby Boomers) are thinking of manual labor, which certainly is still important and very relevant and even in our society today, but they're thinking of factories and the types of work that they did back then. And certainly there is that work available today. But at the same time, so much of our work has been automated.”“Innovation is what really provides value in our market. And that's what a lot of us Gen Zers have is that innovation.  And then, that courage to relentlessly push that innovation until we do make something better.”“The whole phrase of “If you find something you love, you won't work a day in your life.”  I think the concept behind that has driven us to realize that there's gotta be something more. And maybe we don't have to be miserable at work.”“… cumulative innovation to me is like passing on a basketball court. Okay, I don't have a shot here, but I'll pass to an open teammate. It's more of learn from what isn't going right, or is just a little bit off. Perfect that so that you can shoot and score this time. And I think that's why we've been so afraid in the past of failure and we still are in some cases."You can learn more about Jon at JonathanGoehring.comConnect with Jon on Linked InWhat came up for you as a result of this conversation?  Let Linda know by going to Normal-Lies.com and leave a review.  Linda reads every one and every month, she chooses one review to read on air.  If you have a question or a topic you'd like addressed on an upcoming episode, go to Normal-Lies.com and click the contact page to send Linda a message.Be sure to follow Linda on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Linked In.

Episode 71. *This episode deals with the subject of child sexual abuse, listener discretion is advised.*Valerie Dimino joins Linda to talk about her experience coauthoring the memoir, The Man Behind the Curtain, her debut book.From the back of the book:"Jessica Renee was 11 years old when her stepfather began routinely raping and sexually assaulting her. Only when she was 15 and her boyfriend asked the right questions did the truth come to light—a terrible truth that her mother chose not to believe. Backed by a church community that believed a woman's duty was to support her husband above all else, Jessica's mother and countless other family and friends turned against her, labeling her a sinner even as her rapist was convicted.Throughout the long road to that conviction, Jessica often felt she didn't have a voice, as she was continually questioned, criticized, and cast aside. She is ready to make her voice heard now and provide a guiding light for those who are still searching for hope."Valerie  Dimino holds her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in creative writing and has 14 years of professional writing, editing, and marketing experience in the fields of higher education, performing arts, and medical informatics.  This story, even though difficult,  must be brought out into the open. As a child, Jessica’s life was stolen from her without her permission. In this conversation, Valerie and Linda discuss how she walked  alongside Jessica, using words to bring a light to an impossible story that will leave you angry, frustrated, uncomfortable as well as riveted and hopeful. Listeners need to know about the invaluable support that Jessica received from an organization called 'Bikers Against Child Abuse.' Their support was so key to helping Jessica that we wanted to be sure they were highlighted.  You can learn more about this amazing organization at bacaworld.org. Follow Valerie on Linked In, Twitter and Instagram.If you know or suspect a child is being abused, you can contact:Childhelp®Phone: 800.4.A.CHILD (800.422.4453)People They Help: Child abuse victims, parents, concerned individualsIn cases of child sexual abuse, contact:Darkness to LightPhone: 866.FOR.LIGHT (866.367.5444)People They Help: Children and adults needing local information or resources about sexual abuseIn cases of Rape/Incest, contact:Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN)Phone: 800.656.HOPE (800.656.4673)People They Help: Rape and incest victims, media, policymakers, concerned individualsFrom Child Welfare Information GatewayWhat came up for you as a result of this conversation?  Let Linda know by going to Normal-Lies.com and leave a review.  Linda reads every one and every month, she chooses one review to read on air.  If you have a question or a topic you'd like addressed on an upcoming episode, go to Normal-Lies.com and click the contact page to send Linda a message.Be sure to follow Linda on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Linked In.

Episode 70.   “I think that our sense of happiness and how we feel about things, is both something we can influence through our perspectives, but I also think it is related to,  “Are we spending time on things that most matter to us?” and, “Are we clear on what does most matter to us?”In episode 69, Linda spoke with Dr. Carla Fowler, an MD PhD and elite executive coach. For the last decade, Carla has been a secret weapon for scores of CEOs, entrepreneurs, and other senior leaders. Her unique approach combines the latest research from performance science with timeless best practices to help top performers level up and achieve their goals.In this episode, Dr. Fowler and Linda continue their conversation with how our feelings impact our goals. They also talk about Linda’s struggle with creating a future vision which leads into a conversation about being with the uncertainty that often shows up as we pursue our goals. Plus, Dr. Fowler discusses the question, should we play to our strengths or try and strengthen our weaknesses? And, how having a growth mindset plays into it. Dr. Fowler has graciously gifted listeners with a free download, The 8 Biggest Mistakes People Make When Choosing a Coach (and how to avoid them!). Be sure to connect with Dr. Fowler:  Linked In and Twitter What came up for you as a result of this conversation?  Let Linda know by going to Normal-Lies.com and leave a review.  Linda reads every one and every month, she chooses one review to read on air.  She may choose yours next month!If you have a question or a topic you'd like addressed on an upcoming episode, go to Normal-Lies.com and click the contact page to send Linda a message. Or, click on the microphone icon at the bottom right of the page to leave a voicemail. To set up a coaching consultation with Linda, scroll to the bottom of the homepage on Normal-Lies.com to find a link to her calendar. Just click the link and schedule some time to talk about what’s sabotaging you. Be sure to follow Linda on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Linked In.

Episode 69.  “I think goals are a useful tool, but like any tool you have to decide where is the appropriate place to deploy them and and how are they serving you?”Dr. Carla Fowler is an MD PhD and elite executive coach. For the last decade, Carla has been a secret weapon for scores of CEOs, entrepreneurs, and other senior leaders. Her unique approach combines the latest research from performance science with timeless best practices to help top performers level up and achieve their goals.In part one of their conversation, Dr. Fowler shares:- “I often like to look at a goal rather than saying, "Oh, this is a mark I must meet, or I'm going to feel bad about myself.” To say,  this is a challenge I'm setting out for myself. I am going to try to meet it, but the point of the exercise is what am I learning trying to get there?”- “… performance discounting is where you look at all the stuff you accomplished yesterday or maybe over the past year and you're like, “Yeah, that was fine. That was great. But I haven't done anything yet today.What about next year?”  You basically have taken all that effort and the things that felt like big accomplishments, and WERE big accomplishments, and you just discount the heck outta them.”- “ … one of the fundamental principles of performance that I work with people on is this idea of brutal focus because I believe that, the gains and results they're gonna produce in the future are more likely going to come from simplifying and from making more potent what they choose to do versus saying “I gotta work harder and I gotta put more stuff on my plate.” - “This idea that we can just go from goal to goal to goal and always have a hundred percent surety about what the next goal should be, I think is kind of a fallacy.”- “When we can run some experiments and actually say, "How does this (goal) make me feel? Is this goal bringing out better effort from me? Is it keeping me focused and on track more? Has it made it clear what are the small steps I need to do every day consistently to keep moving in the direction that I want?”  Those things can be really powerful about goals.”Dr. Fowler has graciously gifted listeners with a free download, The 8 Biggest Mistakes People Make When Choosing a Coach (and how to avoid them!). Be sure to connect with Dr. Fowler on  Linked In and TwitterWhat came up for you as a result of this conversation?  Let Linda know by going to Normal-Lies.com and leave a review.  Linda reads every one and every month, she chooses one review to read on air.  Who knows, she may choose yours!If you have a question or a topic you'd like addressed on an upcoming episode, go to Normal-Lies.com and click the contact page to send Linda a message. Or, click on the microphone icon at the bottom right of the page to leave a voicemail. Set up a coaching consultation with Linda.Be sure to follow Linda on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Linked In.