As we go into summer I wanted to have on one of my favorite parents on the show to help us with some intentional parenting ideas. Jess Klasnick is a mom of three, wife to Matt, and lives in Breckenridge, Colorado. Her family had a conversation one day about what mattered to them, and the result of those conversations meant upending their current life to follow that dream. They traded the goals of having a Fortune 500 job that kept their family apart to finding a way they could spend more time together.  They sold all their possessions, saved up money, and traveled the world for a year, think “the bucket list family” and then after they decided that they still wanted to live a life of intentionality. For them that meant moving into a 2 bedroom condo in the mountains and choosing a different way to live.    Jess gives us some incredible questions to ask our family.  She gives us tips on how to prioritize our family time and she also gives us some great advice on how to dream and follow those dreams. Because building a life you dream about with your family matters.Jess gives us the courage to be confident in having different values for our families.    Every family will be different, but I believe coming out of quarantine there were some things we all learned and things we can all prioritize better. Jess helps us get to the heart of what we desire as a family.    We also talk about some great ideas for summer with our kids; ways to help them be responsible, learn new things, work as a team. Think ideas on chores, house managers, giving our kids the freedom to fail and try again. Ideas you can start today.    You will want to follow Jess’s journey at https://www.recalculatinghappiness.com/travel-family-blog   And her instagram account which gives tips weekly on so many things from: Traveling the world with kids, simplifying your life, parenting tips, and so much more.  Instagram: recalculating.happiness Facebook: https://www.instagram.com/recalculating.happiness/ Head to our website for more show notes: https://www.bestrongstory.com/be-love-podcast

Be Love

Ep 64 Intentional Parenting and Summer Ideas with Jess Klasnick

Today’s guest is one of the lead actors from my favorite hit show from NBC, New Amsterdam. Jocko Sims plays Dr. Floyd Reynolds in this brilliant show. He is a talented actor, (you may have seen him in the show Crash, The Last Ship) he is a  producer, incredible cook, hails from Texas, but resides in NYC. I wanted to interview someone from this show, because it is one of those shows that touches your heart. They are using their platform to talk about issues of race, healthcare, and mental health with love and compassion.    Last year I had the opportunity to travel to New York City with the Today Show Parents team and previewed the second season of New Amsterdam.  While there I met some of the staff of this NBC hit show. I had previously written a blog post about how one of the phrases Dr. Max Goodwin played by Ryan Eggold asks in each episode, “How can I help?” It impacted me in such a way that I want to live my life with that question always on my lips as I meet people. So after talking with NBC, they reached out to Jocko who was so gracious and kind, you will fall in love with him.    Thank you to Jocko for letting me ask heartfelt questions about how we can be a community that helps each other, no matter what. I hope you are touched by this conversation and it inspires you to help others in your own way.    Thank you to our sponsor RECREATE-SOLUTIONS who assist leaders and organizations get started, unstuck, and get healthy. Check them out at https://www.recreate-solutions.com/   Watch New Amsterdam on NBC Jocko Sims Twitter Instagram 

Ep 63 Actor Jocko Sims from NBC New Amsterdam

The reason today’s podcast has this title, is because this is how our new children’s book, which launched this week, came about. About 3 years ago a friend of a friend asked me a very important question on the phone. We chat about how that question produced this book that we could have never dreamed.    My co-author Marianne Booth and I talk about the process of how this story came about. How she was inspired to write a children’s book based on the story of how a lunchbox note changed our life. We talk about our hopes and dreams for this book, and how each family can live out the message of be strong, protect the weak, love everyone.    We talk about the importance of following a prompting, knowing that it could change your life.   Get your New Children’s Book HERE www.bestrongstory.com/book 

Ep 62 A Scared Woman With A Bold Question The behind the scenes of our new children’s book

Today I talk with Abbie Mirata, the Co-Founder of live kyndly. She is a joy expert and teaches us how to exercise what she has trademarked as JOY JOINTS. She sees choosing Joy as an exercise, something we have to do daily. When your Joy Joints are strong it allows you to better deal with everyday stress, major life events, (HELLO COVID-19)!   She offers advice from the difference between joy and happiness. She describes happiness as more of a feeling based on circumstances, where Joy is defined as a VALUE to her, something that we don’t compromise even when our circumstances aren’t joyful.   She explains training our JOY JOINTS like we train our physical joints.    She gives us some practical ways of how we can strengthen our JOY by doing certain exercises; like cleansing our social media feed, things that don’t bring joy. Start small by choosing how we react to small things.  Bring others into our space and ask others for help. Train ourselves to breathe before we react.  Be empathetic  to other’s reactions.    The ability to manage our emotions is a life skill. How many of us have a hard time asking for help? Abbie helps us reframe this concept. We give others a gift when we give them the opportunity to help us.  More on show notes…..https://www.bestrongstory.com/be-love-podcast

Ep 61 Exercising Our Joy Joints

This week we are talking to my friend Bob Cancalosi, author of Four Loop Learning, The Art of Journaling and Reflective Leadership. The premise of Bob’s philosophy is that leaders who are more reflective are truly more effective. He has learned that deliberate reflection helps leaders slow down, think deeper and implement change with enhanced precision which results in greater impact results. During his tenure at GE, Bob served in the role as Chief Learning Officer for the Healthcare Business for 7 years with responsibility for the leadership development of 60,000 global employees. Then the last 8 years of his career he was the Leader of the GE Crotonville Global Customer Education team with responsibility for the leadership development of GE’s global strategic customers and training over 5,000 customer executives annually.   Bob has been journaling for over 20 years and studying the leadership best practices from leaders in all types of industries and organizational structures in over 100 countries throughout the world. He uncovered a recurring observation that the leaders who were deliberately more reflective were more effective in achieving results, and this is why his book centers on leadership journal coaching.   There is never a better time than the present to reflect on our lives. Quarantine has made us sit back and reflect on our priorities, schedules, and family time. You will love this conversation with Bob, who has so much wisdom when it comes to using the gifts in your life to share with others.    Also on the podcast Bob tells us about his medical journey that has impacted his life in many ways. Cancer of the neck and throat has paralyzed the sides of his face, and yet he is still sharing his gifts and talents with others. He is a true inspiration.   You will be inspired and learn tangible steps on how to reflect, but also how that reflection leads to action.   Learn more about Bob and our show in our show notes: https://www.bestrongstory.com/be-love-podcast

Ep 60 The Art of Reflection

We love stories of optimism, perseverance, overcoming trials. We need those stories to help us overcome our own struggles. Today’s guest will encourage you. My friend Becky Canatsey has been through her fair share of trying circumstances. We talk about how a diagnosis of not one but 2 of her 3 children took them on a path they never thought they would have to walk. She talks about the fear of not being able to have control of the outcomes, how to be positive in the face of adversity, and most of all how she is teaching her girls to trust and have hope even in the hardest of uncertain times.    This podcast is so relevant to what we are facing today. Becky gives us ways to stay positive even when our mind wants to go negative. She teaches us as a mother what it looks like to be an example to our children, when you suffer.    If you have ever been through a trying time, you will want to listen to my conversation with Becky today.  Check out show notes for more.

Ep 59 Choosing Optimism

If you know me, you know I love me a great book. Memoirs and non-fiction are my favorite. I am so giddy to have one of my favorite book authors on the show today. This book,  Same Kind of Different As Me,  changed my view on the homeless, taught me how to get out of my comfort zone and love others well. This is the book I always recommend to others when they want to open their heart and love others well.  I wanted to bring you a story of hope this week, and this is definitely that story. The book, and now a movie, is about a true story of how a Successful businessman, Ron Hall and his wife, Deborah, discover a renewed sense of purpose when they begin to volunteer at a local mission in Fort Worth, Texas. Their lives change forever when they develop an unlikely friendship with Denver Moore, a homeless man who inspires them to save their struggling marriage. This synopsis doesn’t even do it justice. You will be in awe of this story. I literally sat with my mouth wide open listening to him tell it over again.  Ron is a very sought after speaker, author, and producer.  I encourage you to get the book,  Same Kind of Different As Me, and his follow up book  Workin’ Our Way Home, that details the relationship between Denver and Ron after their encounter.  Or if you need a great movie to watch with your family, you can find the movie on Netflix, with an incredible cast like Renée Zellweger, Greg Kinnear,  Djimon Hounsou. I promise you will want your entire family to listen to Ron recount his incredible journey with someone he would have never thought would be his lifelong friend.  Check out our show notes to get in touch with Ron and links to his books:

Ep 58 The Same Kind of Different As Me

Today’s guest is Jeremy Bedenbaugh, who is a long time friend and who also helps leaders recreate. Jeremy is the founder and CEO of Recreate Solutions, a company founded out of personal experience. Jeremy went through a very public and also private recreating of himself. He learned that vulnerability is key when it comes to being who you were created to be. He now helps leaders and companies recreate and transform. Jeremy and I have a very candid conversation about what it looks like  when you start over, when you strip off some of your protective layers we have had on us for a long time and live into our true self.  We talk about how to use some of our most trying times to heal ourselves and use what we learned to share with others. And aren’t we all in trying times right now.    Jeremy gives us some tips right now during this pandemic to evaluate who we are and who we want to be. There is no better time to look very honestly at who we are and ask ourselves is this where we need to be; am I living into who I was created to be; are there some things in my life I need to strip away that I am too scared to think about?   Jeremy helps us ask ourselves the tough questions to get us thinking how we can start to be vulnerable with ourselves and others; opening ourselves up to all that we were created to be.    You will also laugh a ton during this conversation. Jeremy and I have the gift of sarcasm and banter and have a great time. Enjoy this light-hearted but deep conversation today.    Tune in today and go to our show notes for all the links to her FREE guides she is making available to us this week.    Thank you to our sponsor Project Helping for helping families serve others well. Check out their amazing Kind Kits to do with families here: https://kyndkit.com  and their services for businesses to get all their employees volunteering https://projecthelping.org Did you know we wrote a children’s book. It is all about the lunchbox note that changed our family’s life. You can pre-order your copy now. https://www.bestrongstory.com/book

Ep 57 Vulnerability and Recreating During Covid

I wanted to have a wellness expert on here this week to help us breathe, to help us focus on the things we can control during a time that seems OUT of control.  If you have felt frazzled and all the emotions these past weeks during the Covid-19 this podcast is for you. Dr. Michelle helps us focus on the non-negotiable things we can focus on. Sleeping, eating, breathing, gratitude.    Today I am talking with Dr. Michelle Robin, an international speaker, best-selling author, radio host, and practicing chiropractor. She is the founder of Your Wellness Connection, P.A., one of the nation’s most successful integrative healing centers focusing on disciplines such as chiropractic, Chinese medicine, massage therapy, energy medicine, counseling, nutritional and wellness coaching, and movement arts. She is the Chairman of the Board of Small Changes Big Shifts®, an organization that exists to empower people to whole health through balanced daily practices and wellness providers who guide them and founder of Big Shifts Foundation®. Dr. Robin also consults with businesses and non-profit organizations developing wellness programs based on her philosophy of the Quadrants of Wellbeing. She has spoken on improving individual wellbeing as well as creating a culture of wellness, to a wide variety of groups and organizations across North America.   She guides us in a breathing exercise that we can practice daily, and she helps us recenter and focus on the things that matter. She helps us get back into a rhythm when things seem so unorderly. One of my favorite things she says, “Rhythm builds Resilience”.    She asks us questions like, “Are you ok, today?” Helping us take one moment at a time.    Tune in today and go to our show notes for all the links to her FREE guides she is making available to us this week.    Thank you to our sponsor Project Helping for helping families serve others well. Check out their amazing Kind Kits to do with families here: https://kyndkit.com  and their services for businesses to get all their employees volunteering https://projecthelping.org   Family Coaching is happening. Teaching and topics to strengthen your family.    Sign up here: www.bestrongstory.com 

Ep 56 Staying Balanced And Healthy During The Covid-19 Quarantine

Today my friend Jennifer, CEO of Togather Moments, a company helping families make the most out of their time together is on the podcast today.  We talk about how since Covid-19 and how quarantine has forced us as families to be together, and what that has looked like for all of us. We answer questions like: How can we be intentional in these moments so that we can take some of these times into the future?   What can we learn as families what is a priority and what isn’t?   How can we strengthen our family during this uncertain time?    What are some tangible ideas we can do together?    Jennifer gives us some great ideas if you have small to older age kiddos. She is a mom of 4 in a range of kids ages 3-12.    Take a listen today to see how we can all make the most of this time together.    Check out Jennifer’s company https://www.togathermoments.com and order one of their games to do with your family during this time!   Thank you to our sponsor Project Helping for helping families serve others well. Check out their amazing Kind Kits to do with families here: https://kyndkit.com  And their services for businesses to get all their employees volunteering https://projecthelping.org   Family Coaching is happening. Teaching and topics to strengthen your family.    Sign up here: www.bestrongstory.com 

Ep 55 Spending Time With Family in Quarantine

This week I am sharing my heart with you as we go through Covid-19 together. Most of us have been in our houses away from others for the past 2-3 weeks. We are helping protect ourselves and others by staying home.  However, one thing that has been fresh on my mind, is how do we help others when we can’t be with them? How do I talk to my kids about staying safe but also serving others in this time?   It feels like we are all in a bubble and all of us are being affected differently. Some have been affected by sickness, loss of job, uncertainty of how to make it to the next week without a paycheck, or just how to survive being in confined spaces with our kids who we are now homeschooling on the fly.    No matter how all of us are being affected, all of us have questions and lots of emotions.  In this podcast I want to share my heart on how we are talking to our kids about the Corona Virus as well as creative ways we can love others while we are in quarantine.    Can’t wait for your feedback, know that each of you are loved and we will get through this together.  Thank you to our sponsor: Kate Crocco, Author of Thinking LIke a Boss, order her new book here The perfect time to read a book, keep motivated, and be thinking of how to reach your goals even when many have had to pivot. Kate Crocco is the perfect person to help you do just that. A therapist and a mindset coach, she is the perfect person to help reset us in this hard time.  Check out her website here and take her quiz on what might be holding you back. https://www.katecrocco.com/quiz   Check out more on our episode notes here: https://www.bestrongstory.com/be-love-podcast 

Ep 54 Loving Others While We Are In Quarantine

Today I am talking with Lauren Scrugg Kennedy. Lauren is a Blogger, author and wife to Jason Kennedy. This conversation could not be more perfect timing. When all of us are feeling a little down and nervous, Lauren’s powerful story of her finding healing in a tragic experience can make us all hopeful. We talk about marriage tips and how she and Jason strengthen their marriage even though sometimes they are in the public eye. Jason is a correspondent for E news and hosts his own show called In the Room.  We talk about moving away from family to California and finding community in new places.  Lauren has a passion for helping us stay healthy with clean living. We talk about the importance of what we put in our bodies and what products we put in our home. She has a way of being so approachable and teaching us in such a gracious manner.    This conversation will lighten your heart during this hard time we are all facing right now. You won’t want to miss this episode.    To learn more about Lauren go to our show notes here   Thank you to our sponsor:   Kate Crocco, Author of Thinking LIke a Boss, order her new book here Did you know we provide family coaching. Topics and teachings to help strengthen your family check it out here.

Ep 53 A Story Of Hope

This week I talked with Joanna Waterfall, Founder of Yellow Co. a community of women creating meaningful work. She is the guru of helping others find community. So much so that she started a company based on others finding each other and their shared passions.  Joanna and I talk about how we were all made for the community, how to find it, and why it matters. We discuss how hard it can be, how we can be a society that can be socially connected but lonely at the same time. She gives us advice on how to be vulnerable and take the risk to find those who will do life with you.    Another thing at which she excels is teaching us how to create meaningful work. Yellow Co. defines work as creating meaning in this world and making sure what you do aligns with you. A huge part in that is knowing yourself, so you can lead not only yourself but others.   We talk about our own struggles of identity and worthiness and how to find our wholeness so we can help others find theirs.    This is a conversation that will encourage you and set you on your next steps to find or strengthen the community you have always desired.  To learn more about Joanna and Yellow Co. Check out our show notes. https://www.bestrongstory.com/be-love-podcast   Thank you to our sponsors:   Kate Crocco who wrote “Thinking Like a Boss” uncover and overcome the lies holding you back from success and she’s offering our listeners TWO free chapters! All ya gotta do is take her quick 45-second quiz that helps you discover what’s holding you back from taking that next move in life and business and then along with your results, you will receive the first two chapters of this book for free! So head on over to KateCrocco.com/quiz to get your results and two free chapters of Thinking Like a Boss! Craftingood: Creating experiences of kindness to do with your family.  https://craftingood.com/ 

Ep 52 Why Community Matters And How To Find It

Most of us know what’s important in our life, but does the time we spend on them reflect this? If you looked at how we lived our life, would people know what was really important to you? Would your life reflect your priorities?   Today I have my friend Kyle Barger, founder of Make a Day, on the podcast. He started serving others out of the success of his company. Something that started as a small opportunity to love others has turned into a non-profit that serves the homeless in Ohio.    Here are some of the main takeaways from our conversation: Anyone can serve another by using their time, talents, and treasure.  We also talk about Kyle completely shifting his priorities and how he did that.  Learn how Kyle did this and how we all can shift our priorities to what really matters.    If you want to get clear on what should matter in your life and how to make the right things  important, you will love this conversation.    Join me as I chat with my old friend and teammate about what matters, how to make it a priority in your life, and how to leave a legacy by serving others in the unique way you can.    Sponsors: CraftinGood Inspiring a Kinder world Together https://craftingood.com CraftinGood supports and encourages families to come together, celebrate differences, stand up for equity and inclusion, improve the wellness of themselves, each other, the planet and to live with a focus on love and trust over fear and doubt. They are giving 20% off to our listeners if you use the code BELOVE.  Start your first kindness subscription box today.   TOUCH GERM BLOCK  Did you know that 80% of infectious diseases are spread by contact? What do you Touch on a daily basis?  How do you know you’re protected? Introducing TOUCH.  The world’s first preventive, proactive, sanitizing germ block.   Now you can protect yourself from germs BEFORE you come in contact with them.   TOUCH evenly sprays on like sunscreen and stays on like sunscreen, creating a persistent barrier for up to 6 hours. Touch is 99.99 % effective and is safe for children! To order TOUCH …….simply visit us at touchgermblock.com OR AMAZON and receive free shipping on all 4 packs. Head to our show notes for more information on Kyle and some of the things we talked about today.  https://www.bestrongstory.com/be-love-podcast

Ep 51 Prioritizing What Really Matters

I love talking about things that are inspiring to me, something that I am learning, something that was an AHA moment for me.  And one of those things I am working on right now is being present in me.  Not scrolling my phone when I am bored or lonely, or adding something to my day that doesn’t really need to be there because I can’t just be still. But I am focusing on  just being present, noticing things around me; the beauty, the sounds, the gift of that moment.  We live in a world where we are bombarded with stimulus at ALL hour, minutes, seconds of the day.  Today’s podcast I give some specific ways I am trying to BE more present, to be more at home with myself.  If you find yourself feeling cluttered or you can’t free up space in your mind, check out this short episode and try some of the things that are helping me right now.  For more show notes and how to start family coaching with us head over to www.bestrongstory.com where we go over topics that help strengthen your family and the community you live in. Simple teaching, simple tools, simple ways you can be love to those around you daily!   PODCAST SPONSOR: 4 Loop Learning CHECK OUT the art of Leadership through Reflective Journaling. If you have ever wanted to become a reflective leader, Bob is the one to lead you through this practice.  Bob journals with one very simple goal- to share the knowledge with others to help them unlock more potential as they fulfill their own leadership ambitions. With 31 years of leadership experience at GE, and over 70 journals meticulously kept over the past 20 years, Bob brings the lessons he has learned—in life, and pursuits of leadership—and the tools to apply them with Four Loop Learning, a guide to leadership journaling. https://www.fourlooplearning.com 

Ep 50 Loving Being Present

The Be Love Podcast brought to you by the BE STRONG Story Family. Ever notice how a simple thing can change your life? Well, a lunch box note changed ours. A few years ago, my husband wrote a note to our son that said: BE STRONG, PROTECT THE WEAK, LOVE EVERYONE. This message has become our family mission to spread to the world. At BE LOVE podcast, we want to show you tangible ways for you to love others. Each week we will share stories of people who are giving back and loving their communities. From CEOs to non-profit leaders to everyday people, we believe any act of love can change the life of another. Join us as we are inspired each week to take action and love out loud.

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Be Love

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