breakaway

Ideas. Ideas. Ideas. Valerie Paris shares with us her favorite book on ideas. How they move through the universe, how they visit you and how they leave you. Profound words on the concept of ideas. And that is just the beginning of our conversation with Valerie. 

Valerie discusses her decision to transition two years ago. Her transition began when she asked herself the question: If you could live your life how you want to, and you could do anything, what would that look like? And she realized that she would be happier if she transitioned to a woman. She shares her story and, in particular, her fear that she would be fired when she told her company that she was going to transition. Throughout her story, Valerie illustrates her courage and how it manifested itself during her life. And, we talked about understanding our fear and how the world could change if we stop acting on fear. 

It is an incredibly personal story. And, we recorded it on International Transgender Day of Visibility (an amazing coincidence and we are thrilled the universe made that happen for us—beautiful!). 

Valerie Paris is a game designer with a background in marketing, community engagement, and immersive storytelling. Having worn many hats in her professional experience, from designing escape rooms to improving operations, she is passionate about creating experiences that help connect people in meaningful ways. Her latest games have focused on exploring themes of gender and LGBTQ+ issues, as well as building positive queer community in the often hostile world of games. 

Connect with Valerie to learn more about her and her background:

• Twitter = @uncannyvallerie 

Sign up for our newsletter at https://abbraccigroup.com/. Please subscribe, leave a review and tell your friends about our podcast. Learn more about the CHARGE® model by purchasing the book, The Way of the HR Warrior. Let us know about the moments for you that changed your life trajectory. Drop us a note via our website. 

We kick off our conversation with guest Jacquelyn Adams by talking about solving problems. It is so simple: take a break from the problem, take a walk and clear your head! You will be amazed at the ideas that come to you. And that is just the beginning with Jacquelyn. Listen to her story about leaving Hicksville, OH (not a typo) and her computer programming job to join the Peace Corps. 

Why the change? She wasn’t happy with her job and wanted to change her life. She gave up the “good” job and moved to Africa. Her time at the Peace Corps challenged her beliefs and her assumptions.  She learned about the importance of the human side (she was educated as an engineer, human stuff wasn't taught as much!). Her advice in three words: curiosity, authenticity and community.  And you won’t want to miss her favorite Swahili word!

Jacquelyn  began her training career teaching high school math in Swahili in a rural Tanzanian village for two years as a Peace Corps volunteer. Upon returning to the US, she combined her love of teaching with her Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering to become a corporate engineering trainer. After spending a decade as a top-rated instructor, she founded her own learning consulting company. For her professional achievements, Jacquelyn has received local and national recognition including the “Top 40 Under 40”, “Outstanding Young Alumni”, and “Outstanding Women in Business” awards. Jacquelyn writes a weekly column for IEEE, the world's largest technical organization, sharing career development thought leadership.

Connect with Jacquelyn to learn more about her and her background:

• LinkedIn = https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacquelynadams/

Sign up for our newsletter at https://abbraccigroup.com/. Please subscribe, leave a review and tell your friends about our podcast. Learn more about the CHARGE® model by purchasing the book, The Way of the HR Warrior. Let us know about the moments for you that changed your life trajectory. Drop us a note via our website. 

Please note: Around the 10:34 min mark, Keri has audio problems, but it only lasts for a few seconds. 

It is going to be a good episode when we kick off with an infinite mindset discussion. Julie Neumark chats with us about trying to live a long-term mindset and how humility is a key to her success.

And, she needed to tap into her humility as she left her music career. Julie started off as a singer/song writer and after years, she was signed! But that lasted for only 18 months and it was over. Now what?  Music was her identity and her dream. Julie had to ask herself, who am I? While she knew that music wasn’t right, she didn’t know what was right for her. She took a risk and stepped into marketing. 

Julie had to reboot and start again. She did this with grace, humility and curiosity. Her advice for others: Be present, journal, do something that helps you focus your mind and give yourself a break from technology. 

Julie is a former touring artist who earned her marketing credentials by marketing her band to A&R folks, resulting in a record deal. 10 years later, she turned to marketing full time for SaaS and AI startups and eventually became head of Content and Event Marketing at YP.com (Yellowpages). In 2017, YP.com was acquired and Julie decided to go back to her entrepreneurial roots and help businesses with their marketing strategy as an independent consultant. In 2019, she joined forces with her colleague and friend, Holly Bowyer, as a partner in their marketing services agency, Media & Marketing Minds (M3).

Connect with Julie to learn more about her and her background:

• Facebook = @mediamarketingminds
• Instagram = @mediamarketingminds
• LinkedIn = https://www.linkedin.com/in/julieneumark/ 

Sign up for our newsletter at https://abbraccigroup.com/. Please subscribe, leave a review and tell your friends about our podcast. Learn more about the CHARGE® model by purchasing the book, The Way of the HR Warrior. Let us know about the moments for you that changed your life trajectory. Drop us a note via our website. 

Do you know what a movement educator is? Neither did we. Luckily, Nandini Basu explains it to us! Nandini also talks about her journey from working in corporate to becoming a Master Pilates instructor. 

She recalls a time when a student told her that “You are a blessing in my life” and how that feeling didn’t match the feelings she was receiving in the corporate world. The question was then…what do I do about this misalignment? 

Nandini found a grounding in Pilates that she didn’t have before. She devoted time and energy into this and made it her passionate hobby. But soon the universe conspired and presented her with opportunities to focus on her hobby and not on corporate. She tells us about the courage it took to make the switch and the great advice she has to help others. 

Nandini is a Movement Educator and Leadership Development Consultant. As a Movement Educator she teaches group fitness and private clients, primarily in Pilates, and is a Master Trainer for the Club Pilates brand. In her Leadership Development work, Nandini focuses on coaching and facilitation of employee and leadership development programs.  She has worked across multiple industries and geographies to provide in-person and virtual leadership development solutions. Nandini is passionate about her work in helping people be their best selves through physical well-being and interpersonal effectiveness.  

Connect with Nandini to learn more about her and her background:

• Instagram = @nandini_basu

Sign up for our newsletter at https://abbraccigroup.com/. Please subscribe, leave a review and tell your friends about our podcast. Learn more about the CHARGE® model by purchasing the book, The Way of the HR Warrior. Let us know about the moments for you that changed your life trajectory. Drop us a note via our website. 

You may think we have switched it up to a food/travel podcast since this is how we spend the first 10 minutes chatting with Ray Culver! Nah, we are still a life changing decision podcast, but we couldn’t help ourselves and kicked it off talking about how Ray expands his brain with food and travel. 

After discussing international vending machines, we get to a deep discussion about the decision Ray made that changed the trajectory of his life. Ray shared his intensely personal story about coming out as a gay man to his sister and mother when he was 18 years old. And that was the just the start of his journey. Now, how was he going to live his truth, become a more authentic leader and make the world a better place? Through the lessons he lives by (and who shouldn't live by these?):  Showing unconditional love, understanding what others are going through and supporting them in the decisions they make. 

Ray is a staffing industry veteran and Certified Contingent Workforce Professional (CCWP) with 26 years of experience in sales, sales strategy and sales leadership. Serving as the Senior Vice President and Global Head of Growth at TalentNow, a contingent workforce solutions company, Culver oversees the go-to-market sales and growth strategy, assists in developing the product roadmap and helps create and drive TalentNow's vision. Prior to joining TalentNow, Culver held leadership roles with Scout Exchange, Randstad and ManpowerGroup, where he was instrumental in creating, and leading, national and global MSP Sales Channels. Ray is involved with multiple non-profit organizations throughout Southern California and serves as a strategic advisor with several startups throughout the US.

Connect with Ray to learn more about him and his background:

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rayeculver/ 

Sign up for our newsletter at https://abbraccigroup.com/. Please subscribe, leave a review and tell your friends about our podcast. Learn more about the CHARGE® model by purchasing the book, The Way of the HR Warrior. Let us know about the moments for you that changed your life trajectory. Drop us a note via our website. 

Progress not perfection! You are often courageous in hindsight, but that “courageous” moment is often fraught with fear and questioning. These are life lessons that Amy Evans lives by. Listen to Amy talk about the importance of freedom, listening to your intuition and getting clear on your values. Your personal values are what guides you and can serve you well when making decisions in your career and personal life. 

Throughout her life, Amy faced her challenges with resiliency and knew early on that she needed to be independent. That has helped her build her career and grow financially. She now gives back and wants to help other women gain their financial freedom. She created a women’s networking group, Align Women, to help women focus on business development and revenue generation. Listening to Amy will make you want to network, drive your career and write down your personal values! 

Amy  is an entrepreneur who is passionate about helping women step into their power and their agency in business and relationships. She is the founder of AlignWomen, a leadership and networking organization for professional women, and the host of The AlignWomen Podcast. She is also the President of Colibri Insurance Services, a boutique insurance agency that simplifies employee benefits for employers in Southern California. She also uses her expertise in the health insurance industry and the health insurance broker market to consult on a variety of projects.

Amy is an active member of the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) and a regular speaker at insurance industry events. She is an enthusiastic social media user and you can find her engaging regularly on a variety of topics including legislative issues, agency management, entrepreneurship, social media strategies, women’s empowerment, communication and relationships.

Connect with Amy to learn more about her and her background:

• AlignWomen Website: www.alignwomen.org
• AlignWomen Podcast: https://alignwomenpodcast.com/

Sign up for our newsletter at https://abbraccigroup.com/. Please subscribe, leave a review and tell your friends about our podcast. Learn more about the CHARGE® model by purchasing the book, The Way of the HR Warrior. Let us know about the moments for you that changed your life trajectory. Drop us a note via our website.

Have you ever wanted to call your manager and say “I cannot take this job one day longer”? Well, Andy Lee did just that and changed his life. What happened to him after he made that call? Take a listen, as Andy shares his very personal and vulnerable story with us. He tells us that he was in denial and pretending everything was fine, when it wasn’t. He took time off after that phone call and took a journey which included a month-long stay at a Buddhist Monastery. 

After his leaving his job, he made his decision to teach people mindfulness and help others work to avoid the situations that impacted him. His top advice: Listen to your quiet voice. You don't want to miss his courageous story and how he teaches mindfulness to others.

Andy Lee has dedicated his career to helping leaders, teams and organizations leverage the power of mindfulness to create a culture of engagement, innovation and sustainable success. He has been teaching mindfulness in organizations since 2011. He is the founder of Mindful Ethos, and Senior Consultant with Potential Project.

Before founding Mindful Ethos, Andy was Chief Mindfulness Officer at Aetna where he and his team developed a range of programs to create a deeply rooted culture of mindfulness. These programs included in-person courses, webinars and digital programs. He also developed a network of internal mindfulness advocates and created a Mindfulness Center in Aetna’s home office.

Previously, Andy held senior talent management roles at Merrill Lynch, Viacom, and Capital One. In these roles, he developed and managed a range of traditional talent management programs and processes including competency models, leadership development programs and performance management processes and survey feedback programs. 

Andy has an MA in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University, and is ABD in I/O psychology from New York University. He holds a certificate in Executive Coaching from CUNY Baruch, and is certified as a mindfulness teacher by the Brown University Center for Mindfulness. 

Connect with Andy to learn more about him and his background:

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/andylee03/
• https://mindfulethos.com/
• https://www.potentialproject.com/ 
• Andy's recommended podcasts/apps:
  • 10 Percent Happier Podcast  https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast
  • Calm App https://www.calm.com/
  • Headspace App https://www.headspace.com/

Sign up for our newsletter at https://abbraccigroup.com/. Please subscribe, leave a review and tell your friends about our podcast. Learn more about the CHARGE® model by purchasing the book, The Way of the HR Warrior. Let us know about the moments for you that changed your life trajectory. Drop us a note via our website. 

A true global citizen and lifelong learner, Florence Navarro provides us an amazing list of podcasts that she listens to in order to push her thinking. We could have ended the interview with all that great information! Luckily, Florence tells us about her decision to leave the United Nations and how her life changed after that. She believed that she could learn more if she stepped away from the UN. And she did! She obtained her Master’s at Stanford and had one of the best years of her life! 

Throughout her journey, Florence focused on being humble and exemplary. She also strikes the balance of pushing yourself and asking for help! Her top advice: Try things out. Know your parameters and then just jump. You don’t know until you do it! Take a listen to Florence and you will be inspired to take that risk! 

Florence  has worked in Central Europe, Africa and Asia for the United Nations and the World Bank Group, non-profit organizations and social enterprise incubators. Since 2007 she has supported entrepreneurs around the world to launch and grow their companies in sectors including biodiversity, ed-tech, water and sanitation. She has been recognized for recruiting talent, growing teams and mentoring the next generation of leaders. Her extensive global network and her genuine passion to match people's talents with organizations' purpose led her to start her own company, Kichocheo – meaning ‘catalyst’ in Swahili- to help purpose driven organizations reach the next level of success.

Florence has an M.S. in Management from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, and an M.A. in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

Florence is French. She lives in Washington DC in an old-renovated home with her husband and has two adult daughters.  She enjoys travel, hiking, yoga... and most of all sharing homemade food and long conversations with family, friends, and friends of friends.

Connect with Florence to learn more about her and her background:

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/florencenavarro/
• https://www.kichocheo.com/
• Florence's recommended books and podcasts:
  • StrengthsFinder  https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths/en/strengthsfinder.aspx
  • On Being Podcast  https://onbeing.org/series/podcast/
  • The Hidden Brain Podcast  https://www.npr.org/series/423302056/hidden-brain
  • The Accidental Creative Podcast  https://accidentalcreative.com/category/podcasts/
  • Side Hustle Pro Podcast  https://www.sidehustlepro.co/
  • Talk Talent to Me Podcast  https://talktalenttome.com/
  • The Lorne Epstein Show Podcast  https://www.lorneepsteinshow.com/podcast
  • https://www.marieforleo.com/

Sign up for our newsletter at https://abbraccigroup.com/. Please subscribe, leave a review and tell your friends about our podcast. Learn more about the CHARGE® model by purchasing the book, The Way of the HR Warrior. Let us know about the moments for you that changed your life trajectory. Drop us a note via our website. 

Imagine this situation. You graduate college with a business degree and have multiple job offers. You say, “No thanks, I will try my hand as a stand-up comedian”. That is what our guest, Nic Novicki, said. And, guess what?  Nic has been very successful at it. Listen to his journey as he took his wonderful skills of connecting people and creativity to pursue an acting career as well as launching the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge. He started the Film Challenge as he wanted to see other people with disabilities behind and in front of the camera. 

His sage advice includes…realize things will scale in time, failing is okay, set realistic goals, build on your own and don’t wait for people to give you “something”. You don’t want to miss listening to Nic's incredible story. 

Nic Novicki is a comedian, actor, and producer that has performed on 6 continents including several tours through Armed Forces Entertainment, performing for troops.  His television credits include: Boardwalk Empire, The Good Doctor, The Sopranos, Loudermilk, Alone Together, Gotham Comedy Live, Jack and Triumph, The Neighbors, Austin and Alley, Private Practice, Drop Dead Diva.  He has appeared in several movies including: L!fe Happens, November Rule, The Last 5 Years, Boston Girls, Breaking Wind, Dead Ant and the upcoming Hipsters, Gangsters, Aliens and Geeks. He is the founder and director of the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge and is a board member of Easterseals Southern California.

Connect with Nic to learn more about him and the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge:

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicnovicki/
• https://disabilityfilmchallenge.com/
• Instagram: @disabilityfilmchallenge
• Twitter: @DisabilityChall

Sign up for our newsletter at https://abbraccigroup.com/. Please subscribe, leave a review and tell your friends about our podcast. Learn more about the CHARGE® model by purchasing the book, The Way of the HR Warrior. Let us know about the moments for you that changed your life trajectory. Drop us a note via our website. 

Doing the right thing becomes more important than the money you make. Collaboration, asking for help and networking. These are key tenets for Emma Fox. You don't want to miss this episode as Emma shares her decision to commit to a working in a transparent environment. 

Emma wanted her career to match her values and talks to us about how her life evolved in order to align her values and career. Her top advice: Do not do it alone. Reach out and there is help for you. Take a listen to this Emma’s honest and straight-forward story. 

Emma is the Chief Operating Officer at E-Powered Benefits; a benefits consulting firm designed to deliver high performance health plans while staying committed to industry-wide transparency. 

Emma has been an outspoken advocate for cost and healthcare quality transparency using direct contracting, referenced based pricing, and a consultative approach with clients and colleagues alike but most of all, she is dedicated giving a voice to healthcare consumers and dispelling the myths associated with non-traditional health care solutions. 

She is the founder of Empowered Leadership; an organization dedicated to growing the confidence and capabilities of leaders in perceived minority groups and serves as the Chapter Leadership Development Chair for the West Coast Region of NAHU. 

While residing in Portland, Oregon, she stays busy with her two children, enjoys cooking, writing, and traveling.

Connect with Emma at https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmapassefox/ to learn more about her and her background. 

Sign up for our newsletter at https://abbraccigroup.com/. Please subscribe, leave a review and tell your friends about our podcast. Learn more about the CHARGE® model by purchasing the book, The Way of the HR Warrior. Let us know about the moments for you that changed your life trajectory. Drop us a note via our website.

Finally, a guest says our podcast is one of her go-to’s to push her thinking! Why did it take this long? Not only does Gelair Butler get the gold star for the best guest to date, but also, we break format and talk football. Don’t get it twisted, we are not ESPN, but Gelair does predict the Super Bowl and she is 50% correct. Stop in for football and stay to listen to Gelair’s amazing story. 

2015 was quite a year for Gelair. Her job was eliminated. She got married. She moved to a new city. Oh yeah, and found a new job while she is six month pregnant. Before her job was eliminated she was given a choice for a new career path. While she could have taken the sure thing, Gelair knew instead that she needed to leave the company and continue to be on the career path that she set out for herself. Gelair’s advice “Don’t let anyone define your value”. Boom. Hard stop. You don’t want to miss Gelair’s moving journey. 

Gelair Butler is a proud native of the greater New Orleans area and lover of all things New Orleans including the food, music, history, art, and the New Orleans Saints.  It was there that she received her bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications and Sociology from Dillard University.  After a brief stint in cable and local television, Gelair began a career in HR as an entry-level staffing associate.   

By building on current experience and taking risks to venture into new disciplines, geographies, and industries; she has developed a career as an HR Executive.  Gelair has demonstrated expertise in performance consulting, change management, and all areas of talent management including learning, succession planning, performance management, onboarding and engagement.  

She is currently the Director of Leadership Development at Rollins Inc.  She and her award-winning team are responsible for creating strategies and agile frameworks to develop leaders at all levels of the organization. Gelair’s fundamental belief is that by enabling the success of leaders, you can exponentially improve the lives of employees and change the heart of organizations.

Connect with Gelair at https://www.linkedin.com/in/gelairgilson/ to learn more about her and her background. 

Sign up for our newsletter at https://abbraccigroup.com/. Please subscribe, leave a review and tell your friends about our podcast. Learn more about the CHARGE® model by purchasing the book, The Way of the HR Warrior. Let us know about the moments for you that changed your life trajectory. Drop us a note via our website.

John Hagenow left his dream of being a player with the  Milwaukee Brewers in high school and instead focused on academics and corporate America. Using his great radio voice, John tells us his journey of leaving his steady, consistent job and venturing off to start his own business, during the recession of 2008. Great timing! 

He shares the trip on an airplane that sparked his idea of starting his own business. He knew there was a better way to recruit and have relationships. All his life, humility and goal-orientation are keys to his success. His advice “Don’t just be - Be outrageous enough to pursue what you love”. Take a listen to John’s upbeat and advice filled episode to help you reCHARGE® Your Life. 

With over 25 years of Human Resources and Talent Acquisition leadership experience across both industry-leading recruiting agencies and corporate environments (including GE and MillerCoors), the opportunity to build lasting relationships has always been the aspect of John Hagenow’s career that he’s enjoyed most.

A degreed HR professional (UW-Whitewater - Go Warhawks!), John quickly realized how much he enjoyed recruiting - the people, the process, and the impact that hiring talented individuals has. There’s nothing else he’d rather be doing …(unless the Milwaukee Brewers finally call and make him an offer to play professional baseball)!

John is a family-oriented individual (he two young boys and an incredible wife), who always find ways to both motivate and humor him.  He’s an avid sports enthusiast who likely quotes 80’s and 90’s movies too much and is a big believer in work hard, play hard…and a good Wisconsin fish fry.

Connect with John and learn more about him and his company, Fusion Recruiters, LLC:

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/jhagenow/ 
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/fusion-recruiters-llc 
• www.fusionrecruiters.com 
• Twitter: @FusionRecruiter

Sign up for our newsletter at https://abbraccigroup.com/. Please subscribe, leave a review and tell your friends about our podcast. Learn more about the CHARGE® model by purchasing the book, The Way of the HR Warrior. Let us know about the moments for you that changed your life trajectory. Drop us a note via our website. 

Moving from a for-profit company to a non-profit organization. Taking risks to develop himself. Understanding that a crisis is a terrible thing to waste. These lessons and more are what Tony Battaglia shares with us. 

Tony describes the decisions he made and the risks he took when he moved from a Fortune 500 company to a start-up and later, moving from a for-profit company to a non-profit organization. He explains the courage he needed to take these risks as well as resilience. You need resilience not only when you make your decisions but also when there are crises. Take a listen to hear about how Tony and the leadership team shifted their business model in 2020, during 2020 COVID times to, in just 7 weeks, create a results-oriented product. 

Tony Battaglia is President & COO of BellXcel, one of the nation’s leading providers of educational solutions to youth serving organizations.  Tony began his career at BellXcel in 2007 and is responsible for the product development, sales, service, support functions and infrastructure in the delivery of BellXcel’s renowned and evidence based educational solutions.   During Tony’s tenure, BellXcel has grown by over 450% and navigated through numerous pivots of the business model ranging from a direct serve to a licensing model and now launching an “all in one” Enterprise Solution which will permit BellXcel partners to deliver their youth serving programs with much greater efficiency and cost effectiveness.      

Tony joined BellXcel after 18 years at Arch Wireless, the nation’s leading provider of wireless messaging and paging services.  Tony was a member of the start-up team that grew Arch from its venture capital beginnings to $1.4B in revenue. Tony held several key positions, from Corporate Controller to President of the company’s $450M Northern Division with over 3,000 employees. Tony has a B.S. in business administration from Boston College and an MBA in Finance from Ohio University.  Tony resides in Bedford MA, just outside of Boston MA, with his wife and two daughters.

Connect with Tony at https://www.linkedin.com/in/antonio-battaglia-820814/ to learn more about him and his background.

Sign up for our newsletter at https://abbraccigroup.com/. Please subscribe, leave a review and tell your friends about our podcast. Learn more about the CHARGE® model by purchasing the book, The Way of the HR Warrior. Let us know about the moments for you that changed your life trajectory. Drop us a note via our website. 

Bev Attfield shares an emotionally devastating story of losing her baby at the 20-week ultrasound appointment. Bev explains her journey of what occurred that day and it is, unfortunately, not a unique story for many families. 

However, Bev shares how this event has changed her life forever. She has an amazing story of resilience and how she and her husband navigated the grief together. They made the conscious decision to continue through and do it in the best possible way. She hopes her story helps others to learn and know that you too can get through this type of loss.

This is a powerful episode if you have had a loss or know anyone who has miscarried. Bev’s lessons are powerful: Life is short and uncertain, anything is possible, look forward and act with compassion. Listen so you can better understand and support yourself and others. 

As Principal, Workplace Science at Jostle, Bev cares about the experience people have at work. She explores the role that leaders play in purposefully crafting engaging environments for people to be themselves fully in the workplace. Bev’s curiosity about what creates individual fulfillment at work and unique workplace cultures drives her day-to-day work at Jostle and beyond. 

She's a regular contributor to the Jostle blog and host of the People at Work podcast and Conversations at Work dialog series.

When Bev's not doing workplace science, you’ll find her running, taking lessons in presence from her dogs, or sharpening her Bananagrams skills.

Connect with Bev at https://www.linkedin.com/in/bevattfield/ to learn more about her and her background.

Sign up for our newsletter at https://abbraccigroup.com/. Please subscribe, leave a review and tell your friends about our podcast. Learn more about the CHARGE® model by purchasing the book, The Way of the HR Warrior. Let us know about the moments for you that changed your life trajectory. Drop us a note via our website. 

Before we even get to our big question, we have a great discuss about the culture of an organization and what is necessary to rebuild and create an inclusive culture.  Then we get to our big question…

Jennifer Turner's big change was moving from Michigan to Illinois for a new job. She didn’t know everything but her drive for development, courage and humility propelled her to take the risk. Not only is she passionate about development, but also her leadership style is patterned after her belief system. Jennifer believes fundamentally that cultures need to be transparent, development focused, show empathy and promote collaboration. Take a listen and you will want to work for Jennifer! 

Jennifer is the President and Chief Executive Officer for Tennessee Performing Arts Center, a Nashville-based nonprofit arts organization dedicated to excellence in the performing arts and arts education. Since 1980, TPAC has welcomed more than 12 million audience members and served more than 1.8 million students, teachers, and adults with performances, teacher resources, professional development, classroom residencies, and enrichment programs. 

Formerly, Jennifer served as Executive Vice President and Managing Director for Segerstrom Center for the Arts, an acclaimed arts institution in Southern California, where she built a world-class leadership team, led innovative community initiatives, and spearheaded multi-million-dollar capital development projects, including the successful completion of the 56,000 square foot Julianne and George Argyros Plaza. 

With more than 20 years of experience in nonprofits arts, Jennifer previously was the Chief Operating Officer for the national historic landmark Auditorium Theatre in Chicago and held roles with Michigan Opera Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, and Harper College. 

She is a graduate of Michigan State University and holds a graduate degree from Roosevelt University in Public Administration, Nonprofit Management.

Connect with Jennifer at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifercturner/ and on Twitter @JenniferArts to learn more about her and her background. 

To learn more about Tennessee Performing Arts Center, please visit:

• TPAC Website: https://www.tpac.org/
• TPAC Instagram: @tennesseepac
• TPAC Twitter: @tpac

Sign up for our newsletter at https://abbraccigroup.com/. Please subscribe, leave a review and tell your friends about our podcast. Learn more about the CHARGE® model by purchasing the book, The Way of the HR Warrior. Let us know about the moments for you that changed your life trajectory. Drop us a note via our website.

The easier path. It is easy for a reason. Take a listen to Dr. Kimberly Williams discuss the fork in her road: consistency with a great job, steady pay, frequent travel, and continued development OR assume PhD debt, take a cut in pay, stay at home with her children and a manage uncertainty. Dr. Williams didn’t take the easy route, even when there were temptations to get back on the easy route. 

 Dr. Williams keeps her focus on the long term and pushed forward to these goals. That doesn’t mean it is easy to keep the eye on the target. She also talks candidly about shifting her role in terms of motherhood, having humility, employing courage and being exemplary. 

As the Executive Director for several physician’s associations in Georgia and the Southern Region of the country, Dr. Williams is charged with weaving short-term and long-term strategic goals into organized plans, policy, and program implementation. This work includes collaboration with physicians, health care professionals, academicians, business leaders, legislators, and industry partners, to support common objectives. She partners with both for-profit and non-profit organizations to identify opportunities that amplify the importance of social and environmental justice, increase diversity in health care professions, and to ensure health care equity. 

She received her BA in Communications from Mount Vernon College at George Washington University, and her MA in Public Communications from The American University, both in Washington, DC.  She earned her PhD from Capella University in Organization and Management with a concentration in Leadership, People Management, and Health care. Dr. Williams is a wife and mother of two teenagers and loves international travel. With a focus on spiritual and mental wellness, she facilitates Mental Health First Aid™ training, and in her spare time she leads her daughter’s Girl Scout troop.

Connect with Dr. Williams at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberlydwilliamsphd/ and on Twitter @DrKDWmsPhD1 to learn more about her and her background.

Sign up for our newsletter at https://abbraccigroup.com/. Please subscribe, leave a review and tell your friends about our podcast. Learn more about the CHARGE® model by purchasing the book, The Way of the HR Warrior. Let us know about the moments for you that changed your life trajectory. Drop us a note via our website.

Please note: We had audio issues and Keri loses all audio. Keep listening as the show goes on! 

Living in two countries. Changing your career due to a dinner table conversation. Finding your fulfillment. Examining areas in which you are uncomfortable and finding people to help you along the way. Halvern Logan has done all that and has a beautiful story to share about being human and self-aware. 

Halvern had a moment in his life when he made the decision to change his career. He shares with us his path of going outside of his comfort zone, holding himself accountable, practicing meditation, finding balance and enjoying the journey. He talks about the importance of humility and asking others for help. Halvern asks us the important question at the end of the interview, “What would you do if you only had one day left?”

Growing up, Halvern attended an all-male college preparatory school which has a Lasallian tradition. He completed his BA at the University of Tennessee in Economics while participating on one of the premier tennis teams in the country.  He then joined Federated Department Stores as a buyer and later moved to Merrill Lynch as a Financial Advisor.    

Halvern then took a break from the corporate world to attend Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA where he completed his MBA before moving to Paris, France, completing the Master of International Business segment of his studies from the French Business University and earned a Certificat Pratique de Français (French Language Exam), at the Université of Paris Sorbonne. 

After a several years in Paris, Halvern returned to the US and joined Federal Express in Memphis, TN as a Sr. Financial Analyst and later returned to Europe after being promoted to Manager of Financial Forecasting as an expatriate in Brussels, Belgium.

After 20 years of corporate life, he decided to change career paths, moving into Financial Recruiting Services, allowing him the freedom to travel & live internationally. He later created his own firm, HBL Search, supporting clients with a team of recruiters and a consortium of executive recruiters from all industries in the US & Western Europe. 

Halvern is active in non-profit organizations. He’s been a member of the Black MBA Association for over 2 decades, where he was also the Vice President of Administration for the Los Angeles Chapter. 

Currently, he shares his time equally between Paris, France and Los Angeles, CA. Halvern performs multiple services for organizations in the US, Canada and Western Europe. This includes targeted searches for leading companies, start-ups, municipalities, and non-profits. He provides consulting services for organizations related to Diversity Planning, Career Coaching & Transitions/Outplacement Management.

Connect with Halvern at https://www.linkedin.com/in/hblogan/ to learn more about him and his background.

Sign up for our newsletter at https://abbraccigroup.com/. Please subscribe, leave a review and tell your friends about our podcast. Learn more about the CHARGE® model by purchasing the book, The Way of the HR Warrior. Let us know about the moments for you that changed your life trajectory. Drop us a note via our website. 

Do you sometimes have an inner critic? Are you practicing loving kindness to yourself?  Do you need to nourish your attention? Maybe you forget about your own needs? Our special guest, Stefan Ravalli, talks about the power of meditation, how it changed his life and how he learned to treat himself with compassion. 

Not only did meditation change Stefan’s life, but also he now teaches meditation to help others. Take a listen to Stefan as he provides amazing advice how to treat attention as a precious metal and how to take a few minutes daily to treat yourself well.  

Especially now, as we end this dumpster fire year of 2020, learning more compassion and being kind to yourself is critically important. Start off 2021 right by being kind to yourself! 

Stefan Ravalli helps professionals and organizations tap into the fullest power of the service opportunity. His Serve Conscious project merges his background in hospitality management with his training as a meditation teacher, mindfulness coach, and wellness content creator. He teaches techniques that empower professionals to build truly effective relationships with customers - and themselves! 

Connect with Stefan at https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefan-ravalli-555aa640/ to learn more about him and his background. Learn more about guided practice Stefan shared https://serveconscious.com/practice-emergency-lifeline-self-compassion/

Sign up for our newsletter at https://abbraccigroup.com/. Please subscribe, leave a review and tell your friends about our podcast. Learn more about the CHARGE® model by purchasing the book, The Way of the HR Warrior. Let us know about the moments for you that changed your life trajectory. Drop us a note via our website. 

Picture it...you're in your early 30's, married, a mother of two young children and have reached the ceiling of your career. Now what? For Sue Tidswell, the chance to start a new business opportunity meant the chance to challenge herself in new ways, but it also required her and her family to "cross the big pond" and move from the only home they've ever known-from the London accent to the New Jersey accent.  

Sue's story is powerful. She uses all the CHARGE® qualities to help her move to New Jersey and she added one, stupidity. That was a joke but a dose of that does help when you move to another country! And, she let go of the safety net aka she was in the US to stay.  Sue talks about the importance of having people help you, not giving up and finding a way around the obstacle. 

Sue has spent the past thirteen years with some of the world’s largest staffing companies including; ManpowerGroup, Volt and Randstad. She appreciates the challenges that both companies and individuals face as they work to navigate the changing world of Human Resources. Her belief is that talent is the fuel that companies need to succeed in a world of innovation.

Prior to the working in the talent industry, Sue led the Global Financial Printing sector for RR Donnelley, opening new business and building local teams in Asia, Europe, the Americas and Australia. She is the author of Practically Brilliant Words of Wisdom in Hiring a High Performing Sales Force.

Connect with Sue at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sue-tidswell-110b541/ to learn more about her and her background.

Sign up for our newsletter at https://abbraccigroup.com/. Please subscribe, leave a review and tell your friends about our podcast. Learn more about the CHARGE® model by purchasing the book, The Way of the HR Warrior. Let us know about the moments for you that changed your life trajectory. Drop us a note via our website. 

Has anyone told you to “get off your island”? Have you ever needed a shake-up in your life? Did you think that your life was linear and would go according to plan? Do you know what “emergency brake to a donut” means? How about "the pie is not fixed"? Are you hungry now? Grab a pastry and listen to Jen Hwang speak about listening to her friends’ advice to get off her island and the steps she took to reset her life. 

Jen dives into what she did to figure out the relationships in her life and how she needed to break lifelong habits. A solo trip to Australia helped her to clear her head and reset. She discovered that she needed to be exemplary for herself. She had to be honest with herself about what she wanted and needed to ask for it. She talks about a quote from a favorite book, Wolfpack, “Be grateful for what you have and demand what you deserve.”

Jen Hwang is a Boston-born, South and Midwestern-raised, San Francisco resident. She studied Chemical Engineering and Economics at Northwestern University, back when the Big Ten was only (ahem) 11 schools. She has adventured her way through sales, leadership and executive roles in such industries as luxury consumer goods, digital media, staffing and recruitment tech. Jen has worked in a wide range of environments, including Global 500 and Fortune 500 publicly-traded companies, mid-sized private companies and early-stage startups. She’s obsessed with dogs, sports, wine, and a great farmer’s market.

Connect with Jen at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenhwang/ to learn more about her and her background.

Sign up for our newsletter at https://abbraccigroup.com/. Please subscribe, leave a review and tell your friends about our podcast. Learn more about the CHARGE® model by purchasing the book, The Way of the HR Warrior. Let us know about the moments for you that changed your life trajectory. Drop us a note via our website.