The Above The Bar Podcast

🎙️ Coming Up on The Above The Bar Podcast 📅 Wednesday, August 26 🕗 8 PM EST This week’s guest is Rhonda Shader, entrepreneur, public servant, and candidate for California State Senate District 34. Rhonda served on the Placentia City Council, including two terms as mayor, where her work focused on fiscal responsibility, public safety, local business growth, and community leadership. Her story is rooted in service at the local level and the belief that strong communities are built through accountability, involvement, and practical leadership. We’ll discuss: • Local government and public service • Leadership at the city level • Public safety and community priorities • Supporting local business growth • Fiscal responsibility • Civic involvement and staying connected to the people you serve 💡 Tonight’s big question: What does real leadership look like when the decisions directly affect your community? Pull up a stool and join us live Wednesday, August 26th at 8 PM EST. #TheAboveTheBarPodcast #BeSureToPushYourStoolIn #RhondaShader #PublicService #Leadership #CommunityLeadership #LocalGovernment #CivicLeadership #SmallBusiness #PublicSafety

🎙️ Coming Up on The Above The Bar Podcast 📅 Wednesday, August 19 🕗 8 PM EST This week’s guest is Frank Mesa, author, leadership strategist, and creator of the E-R-D Framework: Evolve, Revolve, Devolve. Frank brings more than three decades of executive leadership experience to a conversation about self-leadership, behavior, accountability, and the choices that keep people stuck. His work asks a simple but uncomfortable question: Why do intelligent, capable people keep making decisions that lead them back to the same place? Frank is also the author of Alchemy - It’s As Easy As E-R-D, Turning Pain into Power, where he shares his own journey through difficult relationships, self-discovery, and transformation. We’ll discuss: • The E-R-D Framework • Turning pain into power • Self-leadership and accountability • Breaking repeated patterns • Making intentional decisions • Looking honestly at “the receipts on ourselves” • How leaders can create better results in life and business 💡 Tonight’s big question: Are you making choices that move you forward, or repeating the patterns that keep you stuck? Pull up a stool and join us live Wednesday, August 19th at 8 PM EST. #TheAboveTheBarPodcast #BeSureToPushYourStoolIn #FrankMesa #Leadership #SelfLeadership #Accountability #PersonalGrowth #Transformation #IntentionalLiving #BusinessLeadership

🎙️ Tonight on The Above The Bar Podcast 📅 Wednesday, August 12 🕗 8 PM EST Tonight’s guest is Doug Crandall, West Point graduate, leadership educator, author, and Head of Teaching at The Referent Group. Doug’s new book, Building or Diminishing, starts with one powerful idea: With every interaction, we are either building the people around us or diminishing them. Drawing on nearly three decades of leadership development work, from West Point to Walmart, Doug explores how expectations, communication, and everyday conversations shape the people we lead. We’ll discuss: • Building people instead of diminishing them • The four leadership archetypes: Builder, Driver, Cheerleader, and Belittler • Military leadership vs. corporate leadership • Why everyday conversations matter • Lessons from West Point for business, family, and life 💡 Tonight’s big question: Are you building the people around you, or diminishing them without realizing it? Pull up a stool and join us live tonight, Wednesday, August 12th at 8 PM EST. #TheAboveTheBarPodcast #BeSureToPushYourStoolIn #DougCrandall #BuildingOrDiminishing #Leadership #WestPoint #BusinessLeadership #MilitaryLeadership #PersonalGrowth

🎙️ Tonight on The Above The Bar Podcast 📅 Wednesday, July 29 🕗 8 PM EST Tonight’s guest is Clifford Sosamon, Marine Corps veteran, entrepreneur, writer, speaker, and host of Tailgate Chat. Cliff’s work focuses on one powerful idea: Execution Under Pressure. After serving six years in the United States Marine Corps, including overseas assignments supporting diplomatic security operations, Cliff moved into leadership roles across business, nonprofit management, operations, and veteran advocacy. His message is about helping people take action when pressure, fear, uncertainty, and hesitation cause most people to stall. But this conversation is not just about leadership. It’s about identity, consistency, purpose, and learning how to move forward when things are unclear, uncomfortable, or difficult. We’ll discuss: • Execution under pressure • Leadership after military service • Moving through fear and uncertainty • Veteran transition, identity, and purpose • Building consistency when pressure is high • His Action Under Friction method • The mission behind Tailgate Chat 💡 Tonight’s big question: What does it take to act decisively when pressure is at its highest? Pull up a stool and join us live tonight, Wednesday, July 29th at 8 PM EST. #TheAboveTheBarPodcast #BeSureToPushYourStoolIn #CliffordSosamon #ExecutionUnderPressure #Leadership #MarineCorpsVeteran #Veterans #Purpose #TailgateChat #Entrepreneurship #ActionUnderFriction

🎙️ Coming Up on The Above The Bar Podcast 📅 Wednesday, July 22 🕗 8 PM EST This week's guest is **Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein**, an internationally recognized positive psychologist, author, filmmaker, and storyteller whose work focuses on identity, resilience, self-discovery, and the power of personal narrative. Dr. Holstein is continuing her mission to uplift and empower through storytelling with the release of her two newest books, **Women's Freedom: The Dawn of Possibilities** and **Women's Freedom: Unfinished Love Stories**. Her latest works blend history, psychology, and deeply human storytelling to explore the emotional journeys of women navigating independence, identity, love, sexuality, and self-expression during one of the most transformative periods in modern history. But this conversation is not just about books. It’s about the stories we carry, the freedoms we fight for, and the way storytelling can help us better understand who we are and who we are becoming. In **Women's Freedom: The Dawn of Possibilities**, readers are taken back to the 1960s through the lives of Madison and Ginger as they step into college life, romance, uncertainty, and life-changing decisions during a time of major cultural change. In **Women's Freedom: Unfinished Love Stories**, Dr. Holstein continues that exploration through the lives of three young women confronting desire, purpose, personal identity, and the complicated search for autonomy. Her work reminds us that the questions women faced then are still deeply relevant today. We’ll discuss: • The quiet revolution young women helped lead in the 1960s • Identity, independence, love, and self-discovery • Why the fight for personal freedom still matters today • The emotional truths found in coming-of-age stories • How positive psychology shifts the focus from what is wrong to what is right • Why storytelling can heal, inspire, and build resilience • Her new books: **Women's Freedom: The Dawn of Possibilities** and **Women's Freedom: Unfinished Love Stories** 💡 Tonight's big question: **What can the stories of the past teach us about freedom, identity, and becoming who we are meant to be?** Pull up a stool and join us live Wednesday, July 22nd at 8 PM EST. Learn more about Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein: http://www.enchantedself.com #TheAboveTheBarPodcast #BeSureToPushYourStoolIn #BarbaraBeckerHolstein #WomensFreedom #PositivePsychology #Storytelling #WomenAuthors #SelfDiscovery #Identity #Resilience #ComingOfAge #Leadership