Category Archives: Personal Empowerment

Shawlini Manjunath-Holbrook ABJ 05 co-hosts The Hallmark Channels official podcast, The Bubbly Sesh. She also hosts her own podcast, called Feel the Good.

In 2017, you and your friend/co-host Jacks (Jacklyn Collier)started your own Hallmark Channel-themed podcast. How did you get to work for the company itself?

Shawlini Manjunath-Holbrook: I emailed the CEO out of the blue and pitched him our show. It took a few weeks, but he messaged me back and said, Lets meet.

It felt like we were heroines of our own Hallmark Channel movie. We walked into that board room and had 30 minutes on the calendar. It turned into two hours! Eventually, he walked us to an even bigger board room with 40 of their advertising people. He just said, Tell everybody who you are and what you do. At the end, he said, You are all great. I want you at the upfronts with our advertisers, and we are going to acquire you.

I cant believe my email led to that. I remember thinking, What do I have to lose? Put yourself out there; the worst thing that can happen is someone says no.

Could you describe your shows?

Manjunath-Holbrook: On The Bubbly Sesh, we love talking about relationships and romance and a lot about Hallmark movies, especially the romantic comedies every Saturday night. They just dont make big-budget rom-coms anymore. When I started watching The Hallmark Channel, that was where I found rom-coms again.

Feel the Good, my personal podcast, is a mix of uplifting and/or reflective conversations with tastemakers, influencers, experts, community creators, fellow podcasters, and creatives doing good, feeling good and spreading good. I love engaging in conversations that promote positivity, education, wellness, spirituality, and personal empowerment.

And your Bubbly Sesh audience is really loyal.

Manjunath-Holbrook: One of the cool things about my job with Hallmark Channel is that we are a bridge to our fans. I love fan engagement. We are now recapping the TV series When Calls the Heart, and that is so much fun. You get to talk about character motivations in a different way than you would in a movie. Movies end. There is a conclusion. But a TV show is evolving. With each episode, you evolve with the show you are recapping.

How are interview-based episodes different than the recaps?

Manjunath-Holbrook:With interviews, as the host, you control the conversation. That takes a bit of direction. It also takes a bit of preparation and research on your guest. We have conversation, but I like to make sure we stay somewhat on track with the interview outline Ive prepared. We will have side conversations, and sometimes great conversational nuggets come out of those but I always like to make sure we are covering topics I know my listeners want to hear.

And we have to talk about Hallmark Christmas movies.

Manjunath-Holbrook: The Hallmark Channel creates a place of goodness and kindness at Christmas. They know how to create a world you can escape into. And the stories are always about respect, kindness, and love. You wont ever see something thats mean spirited. Even if there is a character that is a villain, there is still a mature interaction or conflict resolution that is the ideal.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to start a podcast?

Manjunath-Holbrook:We all have a good time with our friends, but that doesnt mean someone wants to listen to that. You have to figure out the mission statement of your show and develop a consistent format. It gives the listener something to rely on, and they also feel a part of the conversation. Also, dont feel intimidated by the editing if you arent a natural editor, or putting together a show. There are so many resources out there to help you. Just enjoy the creative process of putting it all together. Have fun!

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Shawlini Manjunath-Holbrook: The Bubbly Sesh - University of Georgia

Tulsa Race Massacre survivors ask for justice before Congress

The three remaining survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre testified before Congress in Washington, D.C., asking leadership to deliver justice.

Addison Kliewer, Oklahoman

Aday-long event as part of the1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commemoration will focus on economic empowerment andclosing the wealth gap between Black and other Americans.

Taking place June 1 at Tulsa's Cox Convention Centerand online for those who can't make it in person,Economic Empowerment Day was designed to create a collective focal point for the national conversation on the racial wealth gap and inequality in access to capital.

The event will include interactive sessions to drive change and catalyze the national dialogue for economic justice.

Hosting an economic empowerment conference of this caliber with a critical focus on closing the Black wealth gap is transformational, said Phil Armstrong, project director of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission. This discussion is essential to reviving the legacy of Black Wall Street and will help set the course for Black entrepreneurs to establish a legacy of wealth for themselves and generations to come.

The conference will have three tracks for different audiences focused on specific areas of wealth disparity. One track is for institutional investors, one is for entrepreneurs and business owners, and the third is for individuals and families.

Conference co-host Eric Stevenson said it's important that the 10-day commemoration have at least one day devoted to economic empowerment.

"And how do we continue to accelerate the progress that African Americans are making in building wealth, building generational wealth, and ultimately closing the wealth gap?" said Stevenson, president of Nationwide Retirement Solutions.

Those disparities are evident in data that Stevenson said shows just 1.4% of all the wealth funds managed in the United States are managed by people of color or women.

"How do we move that to 2%, to 3%, and 4%?That's where real wealth is created, when more women-owned firms, when more Black-owned firms can manage real money for these institutions across the country," he said.

The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. While COVID-19 restrictions have limited the number of in-person guests to those who have already registered, the program can be viewed online that day and for up to 90 days after the program. To sign up and attend online, visit the event's registration page.

Along with a track focusing on institutional investors, the program will include discussions about Black entrepreneurism and personal financial planning.

"That will really help people go from the beginning, from when you get your first job, how do you think about your emergency savings, how do you think about joining a 401k, how do you save and invest in your future education," Stevenson said. "I think people have bits and pieces of information, but we want to do is give them a framework that they can go back and engage with a financial adviser, or engage someone from Bank of Oklahoma, or someone from Nationwide or any one of our other partners."

The Tulsa Race Massacre was one of the worst episodes of racial violence in U.S. history. Over May 31 and June 1, 1921, mobs of white residents attacked, set aflame and ultimately devastated the Greenwood District, which was at that time one of the wealthiest Black communities in the United States, earning it the name "Black Wall Street."

The deadly tragedy was covered up for decades and omitted from history books even in Oklahoma, but the wide-ranging centennial commemoration includes numerous art exhibitions, music projects, film showcases and more.

Staff writer DaleDenwaltcovers technology, aerospace and Oklahoma business news for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Dale? He can be reached at ddenwalt@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @denwalt. Support Dales work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

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How to watch Economic Empowerment Day at the Tulsa Race Massacre commemoration event - Oklahoman.com

SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--FranklinCovey Education today announced the launch of three educational podcasts, Change Starts Here, hosted by Dustin Odham, FranklinCovey Education Managing Director, The Empowering Teacher, hosted by Molly Garcia, FranklinCovey Education Coach, and Realiteen Talks, hosted by Gary McGuey, FranklinCovey Educations High School Practice Leader and a cohort of high school students. The podcasts were created to provide administrators, educators, and students with inspiring interviews and powerful, life-changing content for personal and professional application.

The Change Starts Here podcast provides content to current and future educational leaders that aligns with the paradigm, greatness is everywhere it exists within their administration, within them, within their students, and in families and communities. The weekly podcast guests join together with the host and audience to learn how to unleash every persons human potential more powerfully, every day. The podcast releases every Tuesday on YouTube, Spotify, Apple and wherever podcasts are available.

Dustin Odham is a former veteran educator, school and district innovation director, and turnaround specialist. He currently leads several teams across the U.S. and Canada serving school administrators, teachers, staff members, students, and their families by providing them with FranklinCovey Education solutions. Odham is a former Teacher of the Year and Executive Director of Teach for America, where he directed more than 200 teachers impacting the lives of thousands of students in St. Louis, Mo. Prior to joining FranklinCovey, he was a senior advisor to superintendents and principals, creating strategies to improve school performance and increase educator impact and student achievement. Part of Odham's personal mission statement is to make a positive and lasting impact in the life of every person he meets, every single day. He has spent his career helping to unleash greatness in everyone he is privileged to work with and for.

Dustin Odham, FranklinCovey Education Managing Director, said, Im so pleased and honored to be the host of our Change Starts Here podcast, which weve created for educators who want to learn, lead, serve, inspire and perform in extraordinary ways. Change starts here means transformation starts from the inside-out. And interviews with our guests inspire that change, whether you are motivated to adopt the practices youre hearing about, or you decide to do the exact opposite. Change starts with each individual, in the classroom and in their personal lives, every day. I hope this podcast is a force for that lasting change for anyone who tunes in.

The first episode of the podcast launched on February 9, 2021. Guests include Julie Morgenstern, The New York Times bestselling author and international organizational expert, Brad Montague, The New York Times bestselling author and creator of Kid President, Stedman Graham, The New York Times bestselling author and businessman, Jon Gordon, The Wall Street Journal bestselling author and positivity researcher, Jody Carrington, psychologist, bestselling author, and speaker, Elena Aguilar, education consultant, bestselling author, contributor to Edutopia and ASCDs Educational Leadership, and a blogger for EdWeek Teacher, and Geoffrey Canada, President, Harlem Children's Zone.

The Empowering Teacher podcast is a twice-monthly podcast for teachers who are looking to increase their influence, decrease stress, and employ doable-today strategies that nurture a dynamic and empowering learning environment in the classroom and in life. Podcast guests are education experts and leadership-school practitioners from Leader in Me Schools throughout the world who have implemented the Leader in Me process. Leader in Me is an evidence-based K-12 process, developed in partnership with educators, that provides schools with effective practices and tools to teach leadership to every student, create a culture of student empowerment, and align systems to drive results in academics. The podcast releases on Leaderinme.com/weekly, Spotify, Apple, and wherever podcasts are available.

As a former educator and administrator, Garcias inspiration for becoming a teacher came from heartfelt conversations with her grandmother, who encouraged her to become anything she wanted to be the President of the United States or a teacher. For over 20 years, she served as a bilingual teacher, instructional coach and principal in high poverty schools, serving her last 10 years as an Administrator. An inspirational leader in professional development for her school and district, Molly taught workshops on leadership, brain research, and highly effective classroom practices. She is a former adjunct faculty member at Grand Canyon University, where she taught masters-level courses to future principals. She became a principal of a FranklinCovey Leader in Me Lighthouse School, and further expanded her influence in the education arena as a FranklinCovey Leader in Me Coach and Consultant, assisting and supporting schools in implementing Leader in Me. Molly's passion is in empowering and inspiring all students and teachers, particularly in high impoverished areas. She strongly believes "We are all better together."

Molly Garcia, FranklinCovey Education Coach, said, I am thrilled to be the host of this educational podcast, which has been created just for teachers. From a small seed planted in my heart as a small child by my grandmother, I know I was meant to be a teacher and to have a teachers heart. Part of my personal mission statement is to love and serve in the kindest of ways, and so my goal with this podcast is to bring educators together to feel empowered, share their genius, learn from each other and experience the greatness everyone has to offer. Together, well continue to dream, to imagine, and to employ doable strategies that can be implemented in the classroom, today. We will make great things happen.

The first episode of the podcast launched on January 5th, 2021. Guests and topics have included Muriel Summers (From Burnout to Balance!), Sean Covey (From Uncertainty to Opportunity!), and South Carolinas 2019 National Distinguished Principal of the Year Rhonda Rhodes (From Woah to Lets Go!). Guests include Dr. Eve Miller, FranklinCovey Education Director of Research, Lynn Kosinski, FranklinCovey Senior Leader in Me Coach, Consultant, and author, and Matthew Trevino, Grammy Nominated Music Teacher.

The Realiteen Talks podcast offers weekly, powerful, timely discussions about topics that matter most to teens. Panelists and listeners are encouraged to think deeply, engage fully, and most importantly speak their authentic truth about issues of the day. The podcast provides a platform for teens to share their genius and to inspire others. These young leaders take on thought-provoking, real-life topics and offer up tools, strategies, and especially hope. While the target audience is teens, educators, parents, grandparents, guardians, and community members are all welcome and will find value in these relevant discussions. The first cohort features 12 students who were chosen to participate from all over the U.S. The second cohort will also include international students. The podcast releases every Wednesday on YouTube, Spotify and Apple, and wherever podcasts are available.

A former educator and athletic director, McGuey has spent the past 20 years traveling across the globe, visiting thousands of schools, and working with administrators, educators, students, and families. He designed and created the first curriculum to accompany Sean Coveys New York Times bestselling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens. He co-authored The Inspirational Teacher, which focuses on how to develop relationship with students, and authored The Mentor: Leadership Trumps Bullying, a proactive approach on reducing bullying in schools. He is a highly-respected speaker on the topics of leadership, trust, vision, and personal development and he brings a rare mix of knowledge, humor, and experience to each engagement, with Learn it, Live it and Give it as the message he conveys.

Gary McGuey, FranklinCovey Educations High School Practice Leader, said, Its been my pleasure to work with teens over the course of my education career. And, its an honor to host this new powerful and inspiring podcast, which focuses on topics that are both current and relevant to teenagers today. Im always humbled and amazed at their brilliance, wisdom and creativity when theyre given the opportunity to share their voice. Among the deepest human needs is that of bring valued, and Realiteen Talks provides young people a chance to feel understood, connected and valued.

The first episode of the podcast launched February 3, 2021. Discussions on various topics have included: Leadership is a Choice, Failure is Fertilizer, and Say Yes to Peer Pressure. Upcoming topics include: Acceptance, Body Image, Hope, Pandemic Isolation, Mental Health, and Social Branding.

About Leader in Me

Leader in Me is an evidence-based K-12 process, developed in partnership with educators, that provides schools with effective practices and tools to teach leadership to every student, create a culture of student empowerment, and align systems to drive results in academics. Incorporating some of the world's most respected leadership content, the research-validated process addresses students' social emotional needs and equips them with the college, career and life-readiness skills they need to thrive, adapt, contribute and be resilient in a dynamic world. For individual schools and district-wide, it is optimized for distance learning with best-in-class online delivery of content and coaching that supports implementation excellence and sustained achievement. As a comprehensive solution for learning recovery, Leader in Me supports schools in a COVID-19, post-pandemic landscape. For more information on the process that has been implemented in thousands of schools in more than 55 countries, visit http://www.leaderinme.org.

About FranklinCovey Education

For nearly three decades, FranklinCovey Education has been one of the worlds most prominent and trusted providers of educational leadership programs and transformational processes. FranklinCoveys programs, books, and content have been utilized by thousands of public and private primary, secondary, and post-secondary schools and institutions, including educational service centers and vocational schools in all 50 states within the United States and in over 150 countries.

About FranklinCovey

Franklin Covey Co. (NYSE: FC) is a global, public company, specializing in organizational performance improvement. We help organizations achieve results that require lasting changes in human behavior at scale. Our world-class solutions enable greatness in individuals, teams, and organizations and are accessible through the FranklinCovey All Access Pass. They are available across multiple modalities and in 20 plus languages. Clients have included the Fortune 100, Fortune 500, thousands of small- and mid-sized businesses, numerous government entities, and educational institutions. FranklinCovey has more than 100 direct and partner offices providing professional services in more than 160 countries and territories. To learn more visit http://www.FranklinCovey.com and enjoy exclusive content across FranklinCoveys social media channels: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

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FranklinCovey Education Launches Three Education Podcasts for Administrators, Educators and Students: Change Starts Here, The Empowering Teacher, and...

On April 2, 2021, Demi Lovato released their seventh studio album, Dancing with the Devil the Art of Starting Over, containing the title single Dancing with the Devil. This album was released along with the documentary series on YouTube Originals, Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil. The music from this album is based on Lovatos obstacles in life and in their career, and brings forth the idea of self-empowerment. It follows their personal recovery after drug overdose in 2018. The documentary series, too, covers Demi Lovatos personal experiences on this journey.

This album was fairly well-received among the music community. While it wasnt particularly chart-topping or beyond all previous expectations, it was a difficult and ambitious story to tell, and paid off in a beautiful way.

The emotional meaning behind this album is not one that I can personally relate to. However, the significance it has to Lovatos life and their own struggles to recovery make the story it tells valuable and interesting. As an experience that many go through, the underlying themes throughout the songs are ones that can be inspiring and uplifting to those who may be facing similar struggles in the present.

Throughout my many listens of the album, I most enjoyed how it came together as a story one connected idea.

The album begins with the song Anyone, which is an excellent exposure to their inner thoughts and struggles. It nicely encapsulates the feeling of hopelessness and expresses their feelings of being alone, and that only after trying seemingly everything did they turn to darker habits and activities; this is the start of their path towards overdose. The title song Dancing with the Devil continues this thematic centerpiece, that once they started was almost impossible to stop. The idea of dancing with the devil is one of only becoming the slightest bit involved in the idea of evil, and yet with that small step, becoming irrevocably stuck; this metaphor, for me, was extremely powerful.

The song ICU is also Madisons Lullabye, which is the first song to feature another person; here, its Madison Lee De La Garza, who happens to be Lovatos younger half-sister. This song reveals an outside perspective, which I found to be extremely insightful and interesting to hear. The song entitled Intro was a surprise, but was a spoken-word introduction that felt genuine, even if unexpected. The song The Art of Starting Over, also in accordance with the title, is an empowering and inspiring song about starting anew. It isnt exceptionally unique, but it does feel fitting and thematically connected. Lonely People, while embracing the idea of loneliness within and among everyone, feels a little generic in its generalization of everyone as a whole. The songs The Way You Dont Look at Me and Melon Cake fit seamlessly into the gradually more optimistic highlights. Met Him Last Night and What Other People Say feature Ariana Grande and Sam Fischer respectively, yet do not lose their thematic connection. If anything, the additional voices add to the power of the songs, rather than solely relying on the hype of the celebrity feature. Noah Cyrus and Saweetie are also featured later in the album, and both only serve to enhance the eternally uplifting mood of the album.

The penultimate song Butterfly is lighter and softer, giving a stronger connotation of freedom and happiness, and the last song Good Place finishes the album on a positive note. It allows listeners to have hope of healing and recovery, and is a bittersweet finale to both the album and the journey of their struggles. It reflects upon their despair as well as the ultimate happiness they reached. While I may hold the personal opinion that some of the songs are overly repetitive in lyrics and in pop music tropes, I do think the story it tells, above all, is so important and well thought-out. This is an album worth giving a chance to, and one that I think will get better as you listen to it over time.

Excerpt from:

'Dancing with the Devil' a candid, heartbreaking album into stardom - The Tide

Showtunes, my eye.

Theres something deeply abject about musicals, isnt there? I use the termabjectin the Julia Kristeva sense the feeling of instinctive horror that accompanies the sight of a corpse or excrement or the yucky-looking skin that forms on top of warm milk. The best musicals understand this think ofOliver! with its opening ecstatic chorus of all-singing, all-dancing abused and starving orphans. Or to take a more recent example, the song Let it Go from Frozen. Elsa would wish, from her point of view, to pitch it as an inspiring moment of self-empowerment. Indeed the power of those magic words, Let it Go, lie in their ubiquity as a self-help mantra for the morbidly ruminative. But shes deluding herself. She knows it, we know it. The cold never bothered me anyway. Just who do you think youre kidding, Elsa? Youre comitting a self-destructive act of psychic self-harm, which advances the plot, develops your character and makes the hairs on my arm stand up. Eek.

So, having established thatKurt Wagner, the baseball be-hatted, god-like genius behindLambchop, has decided to situate his new album somewhere in this deeply manipulative world of unearned emotion, we are glad to report that theres nothing on Showtunesthat is going to be covered byMichael Bubl any time soon.Showtunesis brilliant.

The gimmick onShowtunesis that Wagner has figured out that he can use MIDI to play the piano via his guitar and suddenly has access to an expressive palette that recalls earlyTom Waitsor the moodier and more modernist side ofGershwin. Its more than a mere gimmick of course Wagners is one of pops most questing intelligences and hes pushing out into (for him) entirely new territory. The presence ofRyan Olsen(Polia) andAndrew Broder(Fog) along withTwit One, the German DJ who helped shape previous LPFLOTUS, help to keep things interesting.Yo La Tengocompletists will also note the presence ofJames McNewon stand-up bass. It seems a shame to breakShowtunes up into discreet songs its like a continuous sonic frieze that takes in synthesised strings, sampled opera and more obviously glitchy electronic beats, wooshes and echoes, which form an ironic counterpoint to the Nighthawks-at-the-Diner piano motifs. The cumulative effect is that of a nervous collage of processed sounds that repays listen after listen.

The songs have a quality of deliberate incompletion, as though defined by what is clearly left out as much as by what is included. Lyrics seem to bleed from one tune into another. On Fuku, Wagner croons that, God its getting hard to tell / Even if you tell it well, while a couple of tracks later Blue Leo describes a trip to a supermarket: By the time I get to Phoenix is softly playing in the produce / Theres a crowd around the leafy vegetables / and the band is getting wet / and its getting hard to tell / if its gunfire or the sound of fireworks. This sense of things appearing indistinctly, of thingsbeing hard to telland being everywhere at once pervades the album. The wordtelldoes double duty here, both in the sense of the ability to perceive of an object and also to speak of it. Thus the irony ofShowtunesas a title. If a showtunes nature is to cheaply adorn a wider theatrical narrative, to grasp at things that it isnt quite able to represent, then LambchopsShowtunes repudiate the genres shallowness while simultaneously wallowing in its glory.

One of the most complete songs here is Unknown Man, which describes looking at or possibly finding oneself in the background of a black and white photo of a man in a street. Or perhaps Wagner is in the street looking at a photo of a man the way that its phrased makes it (you guessed?) hard to tell. The man in the picture has an afro and wears a jumpsuit and will do so forever in the photograph. Again theres a deft blurring of the foreground/background and the position of the viewer, the I and you and he of the song, gazing at and through each other, across time.

Time isShowtunes real subject, and if pressed to reach for a comparison Id argue that its closest cousin might be the haunted ballroom of The Caretaker those old 78s distorted and buried in reverb as a kind of aural labyrinth of loss, dilapidation and oblivion.Showtunesopens with A Chefs Kiss, that timeless signifier of a thing brought to perfection. But listen to the words: It took til death to tell your story, Wagner muses, and dreams of the film he will make of it all.

In the press materials going out with the album, it is carefully and correctly stressed that Showtunesis in no way an album of the pandemic. It was conceived of, written and, one presumes, recorded long ago. The words have no connection to the experience we now all share, Wagner is quoted as saying, I find that to be a strong element in their favour. Ive yet to reconcile the time I live in currently with something I care to enshrine in song. Im searching for a way beyond that, but I find it limiting and I think good music deserves better.

Its not hard to relate to Wagners reticence about being reconciled to where we now. Ive barely processed the last year myself and have only respect for anyone who has. Yet, a few years ago, on The Air is Heavy and I Should be Listening to You fromThis is What I Wanted to Tell You, a song about air filled with lemon-scented displeasure, the listener runs into the chorus, This is the new not normal. Ah yes, the new normal. That fucking thing. Writing about the LP at the time, one of the themes that struck me was a sense of unfolding catastrophe, not in any personal sense, but in the wider climate of Trumpism, or environmental collapse (all those suspicious glances at the weather) and the feeling of something impending, some unspecified threat or anxiety in the background of our lives.

This is not to say that Lambchop predicted the pandemic. But equally, I dont believe it took much imagination in 2018 to be filled with dread about what 2021 might be like. Something was coming, if not this pandemic then something equally horrifying. And we were always going to shrug and grit our teeth and call it the new normal and do our best to get on with our fragile little lives, no matter how many bodies piled up, because thats what you always have to do you have, as someone once said, always been the caretaker. But Showtunes preoccupation with disintegration and death, and the form its preoccupations take, mark it out as an apt point to sit with our collective grief, whatever the authors view of the matter. Ill be interested to return to the record in a few years, in a different and hopefully happier context and find something new, and maybe think of something to say that does it justice.

Because Showtunes is a very beautiful, brilliant record. It draws on the very best of the tradition it alludes to, while playfully subverting it. Its rare to hear music at once so experimental and also so entirely pleasurable fleeting moments rendered immortal.

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Lambchop - Showtunes (City Slang) | God Is In The TV - God Is In The TV

A trio of radio DJs from Fife are putting their best foot forward in a bizarre charity challenge to prove that walking on broken glass is less painful than stepping on Lego.

Kingdom FM breakfast show hosts, Vanessa Motion and Dave Connor, came up with the plan after discussing a report on their show which claimed stepping on a piece of the famous building block hurt more than walking on shards of glass.

The discussion lit up the stations telephone lines which resulted in the unlikely plan being hatched to see if it was true.

It all came about after we read a fact out on air that said Lego was more painful to walk on than broken glass, explained Vanessa.

Soon after we were challenged by Kirkcaldy-based Phoenix Firewalk, an extreme experience company, to try out a glasswalk under their instruction.

Moments after that we got a donation of 500 and that twisted Daves arm, so we hatched a plan, albeit a slightly worrying one, to walk on glass and raise some much-needed funds for childrens charity, Kingdom Kids at the same time.

We launched a donations page and told listeners that unless we raised at least 1,000 we wouldnt go through with the challenge.

We smashed through that target in just two hours while still on air so now we have roped in our afternoon presenter, Gemma McLean, to join us.

The trio will receive the necessary training and instruction from personal empowerment coach, Barry Collins, who runs Phoenix Firewalk, before walking across a five foot long stretch of glass made up of around 150 broken bottles.

I heard them talking about it so called them up to dare them to come along and find out for certain, said Barry.

Like anything there is an element of risk but as long as they follow my specific instructions they will have a positive learning experience.

While a firewalk will last no more than four or five seconds, a glass walk is the polar opposite and could take 90 seconds or even longer.

Its all about having your mind in the present and involves the walker feeling for what they are comfortable with before making that step.

We advise the walker not to look down as it is not about how the glass looks but how it feels.

The walker must pay attention and be fully present in the moment as they feel their way across the glass.

The DJs will now take on the challenge this week whilst not sustaining any injuries and have already raised over 2,200.

Anyone wishing to donate can do so by following the link: Kingdom FM Glasswalk for Kingdom Kids.

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Meet the Fife DJs preparing to test their pain threshold by walking on broken glass - Evening Telegraph

Green Bay Packers legend Donald Driver collaborated with Moral Code, a shoe company known for its quality leather products, and designed a new line of footwear. His son, Christian, contributed to the vision.

The styles range from casual to formal and are named after Drivers personal convictions: passion, purpose, thrive, imagine and discover.

The shared mission between the Drivers and Moral Code founder, Mark Kohlenberg, was to create an unprecedented shoe collectionfeaturing a father/son design team that would trulygive back and make an impact on the community.

A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Drivers charitable initiatives, many of which focus on helping young men in underserved communities understand and practice self-empowerment. And in order to achieve this, Driver believes dressing for success is integral to the process.

Driver says he learned this for himself before his first pre-season game in Green Bay as aseventh-round draft pick.

Growing up in the inner city, I didnt have a ton of money, so when I got to Green Bay, I had nothing but shorts and tank tops.They told us we needed to dress up in casual clothes, and I got on the plane in my Green Bay jumpsuit because I didnt have the money to buy new clothes, says Driver.

Driver sat next to Antonio Freeman, who eyed up his outfit and made him a promise that changed Drivers life.

I remember Antonio said to me, Dont worry, Ive got you.' He told me if I made the team, hed buy my first suit to wear on the road. For him to do that for me was truly special and that was the moment I realized that my gift in life would be to give back to others, says Driver.

In Drivers family, shoes were items that were passed down, even from one generation to the next.

I know a lot of kids today are going through the same thing. Theyre getting hand-me-downs and the shoes might be too big or small for their foot. What they need is something thats going to take the pressure, stress and anxiety from them and allow them to feel confident in themselves, says Driver.

Thus, designing shoes that not only look sharp, but are also affordable is meaningful to Driver.

My moral code is that if you look good, you feel goodand thats the whole point," he says.

To check out the Moral Code / Donald Driver collection go here.

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Donald Driver creates new shoe collection with a sole-ful mission - OnMilwaukee.com

One day in 1992, Anglique Kidjo walked into a magazine editors office and found herself being introduced over the phone to one of her all-time favorite artists.

Someone said, Mrs. Kidjo, Mr. Brown wants to talk to you, she recalls. In stunned disbelief, she replied, Yeah, and Im Mother Teresa. But it really was James Brown, the Godfather of Soul himself, asking to talk to her.

I almost dropped the phone, she continues. He was speaking, and I couldnt understand, so I started singing. He picked up the song and I would do the bassline, I would do the guitar, I would do the drumsjust like, crazy stuff.

Its just one of a sea of stories of Kidjo meeting and collaborating with all-time greats across generations. Over the course of her three-decade long career, Kidjo, 60, has dipped into the vast well of legendary artists and performers across the black diaspora taking inspiration from South African artist and activist Miriam Makeba, Cuban salsa icon Celia Cruz, Aretha Franklin, and many more. She has collaborated with many of the African continents greatest legends, from the bluesy stylings of Boubacar Traor to Manu Dibangos Cameroonian jazz saxophone lyricism.

After a storied career of paying her respects through endless innovation within black sonic canons, she has the distinct honor of being exalted on the level of the artists she adores, with young artists throughout the international black community often referring to her as Ma or grande soeur. Now, she is paying that respect forward wherever possible including rounding out her latest album, Mother Nature, with collaborative features from emerging young artistic voices in the African continent and its diaspora, ranging from Nigerian star Burna Boy to Atlanta hip-hop duo Earthgang.

With my work, Im always in my continent, she says, explaining that shes learned a lot about emerging contemporary youth culture via her work with UNICEF and her own Batonga Foundation. They want something completely differentThey arent playing, man. Theyre huge stars in their own right, and making much more money than they can make in America or anywhere else.

This perspective informed Kidjos remarks on the 2020 Grammys stage in Los Angeles, where she won Best World Music Album for Celia a project that revisited the salsa greats defining tracks and amplified the distinct West African percussive and spiritual foundations of the Queen of Salsas music. Four years ago on this stage, she said, looking out to the crowd from the podium, I was telling you that the new generations of artists coming from Africa are gonna take you by storm, and the time has come.

Thats what Im trying to tell them at the Grammys, she says now. Im saying, yall are gonna stop looking at Africa through your really narrow-minded lens. Things are happening and these new generations, they aint afraid of no challenge at all.

At the time, Burna Boy was also nominated for his critically lauded project African Giant, which included Kidjos contributions on the powerhouse track Different alongside Damian Marley. Its a moment that was facilitated by a call from none other than Burnas mother and manager, Mama Burna, who notably accepted a BET Award on his behalf in 2019 while stating, every black person should please remember that you were Africans before you were anything else a sentiment that goes hand-in-hand with Kidjos personal and professional ethos.

I went and visited him after the Grammys and we talked, Kidjo says. That conversation led to a standout collaboration on her new album that Burna supplied, called Do Yourself an immersive collaboration with the young star, known for his anti-colonial imagery and messaging, that serves as a call to action for African self-empowerment and self-determination.

Mother Nature serves the dual purpose of both inspiring the masses looking for guidance towards the future, and connecting with the next generation of artists who have had the privilege of following in the footsteps of Kidjo and her contemporaries while blazing trails of their own. Nigerian artist and Banku music pioneer Mr. Eazis contributions to the project in the track Africa, One of A Kind are anchored by a dynamic sampling of Salif Keitas Africa, a song that Kidjo originally planned on performing in a curated Carnegie Hall series in March 2020 honoring 1960s Year of Africa alongside Manu Dibango, before Dibango tragically passed from Covid-19. Dignity, a collaboration with Yemi Alade, is a direct response to the youth-led uprising against Nigerias infamous Special Anti-Robbery Squad. Free and Equal, whose title directly plays off of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is a call to the entire black diaspora, brings in Zambian artist Sampa the Great, whom Kidjo discovered by watching her Tiny Desk Concert.

Kidjo also harkens back to her homeland of Benin with Omon Oba, bringing in young Beninese musicians to continue the work of building her personal story into a greater practice of reverence. Salif [Keita], myself and the young generation, we just have to continue that chain, she says. That chain allowed us to know who we are and where we come from you might not know where were going, but we definitely know where we can go back to. And go back she does, reshaping the seminal revolutionary Congolese classic Independence Cha-Cha into a melody that honors the ongoing liberation fights throughout the continent in both sentiment and name.

Kidjos coalescence of personal and political is most evident in the title track, which tells the story of ancestral struggles that have played out with the African diaspora, emphasizing how those struggles manifest in climate and environmental justice efforts, particularly in the midst of the Covid pandemic. If you dont want to weigh people down, make them dance make them dance and listen, she says. All of those conversations are very deep conversations to have, and I want people listening to the album to have those conversations themselves by listening to the song.

What provides the album with its gravitas is its emphasis on connection not just between the older generations and young upstarts, but between cultures and places. She connects the Yoruba legacy and musical stylings with its descendants in present-day Benin, reinterpolates the traditional varit franaise style of ballads with the sharp edges of West African inflection and percussion, marries electronica with traditional continental rhythms, and injects calypso, kompa, and dancehall musical phrasings into contemporary Afrobeats production and alt-R&B with ease.

Since the Trilogy album series she began in the late 1990s (Oremi, Black Ivory Soul, and Oyaya!), Kidjo has made a point of acknowledging African-American cultural production and its prominent position in the greater contemporary diasporic fabric. For this album, she tapped the Roots James Poyser to work on her track with Earthgang, whose distinctly melodic and staccato lyrical approach integrates seamlessly with a Congolese-influenced refrain.

Asked for her perspective on her esteemed status amongst peers and idols, Kidjo simply states, Its just a matter of humility. Shed rather defer to a position of service to her people, the music, and the various inspirations that compel her to create. She is happy to see the ways that conviction has empowered younger artists on the continent to pursue their own sensibilities without reservation. I do it because thats the person that I am, and Im not expecting anything in return. But if, through my work my integrity and my hard work representing my continent for so long, taking so much heat, so many slaps it gives them the strength to be who they want to be today, then I think part of my job is done.

Having represented such a large diaspora of black people on the world stage is not a gift that she takes lightly, and it is a core part of her mission to transform topics that people find to be cerebral and abstruse into engaging musical storytelling. On Mother Nature, she uses joy and pride as transcendent tools of empowerment. A self-designated Daughter of Independence Kidjo was born on July 14th, 1960, two weeks before Benin declared independence and in the same year as 16 other nations establishment of autonomy she sees the pandemic and ongoing liberation crises as urgent calls to action. Community is more critical than ever before, and her mission to inspire change and speak truth to power has now been re-centered in collective work and trust, embracing the impact that her work has had on the younger generations.

The best way to tell our story is us, she says. No one can tell it for us. You want to be part of this train, or you just want to be a bystander? You want to jump in it? We need collaboration, we need partnership we dont need your help.

In Kidjos world, your place of birth in the black diaspora is irrelevant: Everyone should be able to tap into a shared pride in a greater African legacy, and the way that legacy is expressed in its multitude of iterations. Dont be afraid of no one, she adds, because where you come from is great. Period.

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Anglique Kidjo Is Tapping the Next Generation to Speak Truth to Power - Rolling Stone

Many people can feel fearful and anxious when they think about the future. The not knowing and not being in control can play havoc on some people who prefer the illusion of controlling their future.

Some people might have a mental health challenge when it comes to thinking about the future, they might experience one or more symptoms of depression, anxiety, or PTSD. They are robbed of the excitement that so many people feel when they think of the future.

The fears of the future are plentiful and shared by many people. They might be held back by something from their past that they have yet to resolve. The things that might keep some people stuck in the past prevent them from looking forward to the future.

The past has a way of coming up again and again for some people and when there are hurts involved, it can be very challenging to move into the future.

The impact of staying stuck in the past or not moving into the future can be significant on peoples professional and personal lives.

There are three components to taking on the fears of the future while also paying attention to the past.

1. Develop an open mindset that focuses on the good and positive experiences and outcomes with any expected event or activity.2. Align behaviors to the mindset and check-in with yourself often to stay the course towards the future.3. Focus on the positive feelings that come with achieving the outcomes and results in the future.

Relating the fears of the future to the COVID-19 pandemic can be complicated and cumbersome for many people. Those who can apply a plan to moving into the future now that restrictions and guidelines have been lifted will most likely come out on the other side with a story of resilience and determination.

Facing the fears that might come with the thinking about the future and powering through the past will give you a sense of empowerment and build massive self-confidence.

With much gratitude.

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Fears of the Future - The Good Men Project

New research from Mintel reveals that more than three-fifths (63%) of Americans say they are inspired by beauty brands that show diversity in advertising.

The majority of people who would like to see diversity in beauty/grooming advertising say they feel this way because it reflects real life (68%) and shows that there are different ways to be beautiful" (56%). Whats more, almost half (47%) of beauty consumers say they have looked for/bought from brands with diversity or inclusivity in the last year and a quarter (24%) have shopped with beauty brands that are minority owned.

Indicating further desire for change among beauty brands, almost three-quarters of adults agree the beauty industry plays on womens insecurities (73%) and societys idea of beauty is too rigidly defined (72%). This points to opportunities for beauty brands to evolve away from these negative perceptions by inspiring and empowering consumers.

Beauty marketing is increasingly shifting from aspirational to inspirational. Successful brands recognize that demonstrating a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion - whether through employment, advertising and/or product development - helps drive inspiration and empowerment, said Clare Hennigan, Senior Beauty and Personal Care Analyst, at Mintel. Brands have the opportunity to make a real impact by integrating different types of beauty diversity in a way, and at a place and time, that is truly authentic to them. For example, waiting until Pride Month in June to promote gender-neutral products could be perceived as a marketing stunt instead of a brand value. Brands that stand to win are the ones who have committed to diversity as an ongoing practice and genuinely listen to their audience to determine how those efforts are perceived.

However, understanding consumer perception of beauty inclusivity is complicated and nuanced, notes Mintel.

Indeed, half (52%) of consumers who use beauty products say affordable products indicate that a brand is inclusive, while 48% say a wide range of shades makes a brand inclusive. Two-fifths (39%) feel that when brands represent diverse groups in advertising that makes them inclusive. But inclusivity indicators also vary by life stage. For example, 55% of Baby Boomers[1] say brands with products that meet a variety of age-related needs are inclusive, while only 32% of Gen Z[2] agree. And 40% of Gen Z think brands that offer gender neutral products are inclusive compared to only 25% of Baby Boomers.

When consumers consider whether or not a beauty brand is inclusive, it is heavily dictated by whether the brand satisfies the consumers own needs - how accessible the brand is to them personally - underlining the importance of understanding core audience values and needs. This approach has led to some brands developing hyper-personalized, inclusive products like the LOral Perso, which is said to launch in 2021 and uses AI to create personalized skincare formulas. At the same time, other brands are exploring inclusivity through a minimalist or universal approach. Skincare brand Humanrace markets itself as suitable for all humans. Whatever the approach, brands that are able to align their inclusivity efforts with the needs and expectations of their target audience will have greater commercial success, concluded Hennigan.

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Beauty brands that show diversity in advertising inspire American consumers - Premium beauty