Connect'd - Connecting you with leaders in their field

Sean Tucker is one of my favorite photographer and YouTuber. I first stumbled across his channel while looking for photography/videography. Sean takes some amazing photos and some of his tutorial videos are amazing. What kept me coming back however was less Sean's talents as a photographer and more his talents as a philosopher/presenter of ideas. If you are looking for technical tips on photography this is not the interview you are looking for.

I am more interested in Sean's world view and some of the history of how he has become the man that he is.

We talk about:

• His experience in the Church
• Vulnerability in Leadership 
• Stoic Philosophy
• Sean's growth on YouTube and his philosophy

You can see Sean's work on his website: http://www.seantucker.photography

Sean's YouTube channel is here https://www.youtube.com/user/seantuckermerge

Raphael Cushnir is a leading voice in the world of emotional connection and present moment awareness. He has shared his unique approach to personal and professional development with millions of readers in O, The Oprah Magazine, Beliefnet, Spirituality and Health, Psychology Today, and The Huffington Post. He is the author of six books, lectures worldwide, and is a faculty member of the Esalen Institute, the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, and the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies. In addition, he coaches individuals and teams at Fortune 100 companies, governments, religious organizations, and leading non-profits. Raphael’s own heart was opened by an experience of profound grief.

Cushnir’s first book, Unconditional Bliss: Finding Happiness in the Face of Hardship(Quest), was nominated for the year 2000 Books for a Better Life Award. It introduced a simple yet profound process called Living the Questions. Learn more about the book and the process here.

Cushnir’s second book, Setting Your Heart on Fire: Seven Invitations to Liberate Your Life(Broadway Books/Random House), was published in 2003 and is currently used as a major teaching text at spiritual centers around the U.S. The book’s Seven Invitations comprise an invigorating, step-by-step process for reopening and reawakening even the most wounded of hearts. Learn more about the book and the invitations here.

In 2005, Chronicle Books released How Now: 100 Ways to Celebrate the Present Moment. This gift book, with 20 full-color photographs and a highly accessible version of his core principles, quickly became Cushnir’s bestseller. A companion card deck soon followed. How Now was chosen as one of the Best Spiritual Books of 2005 by Spirituality and Health Magazine. Learn more about the book and deck here.

Chris Norton is a former American football defensive back who played Division III football for the Luther College Norse. His football career ended in 2010 when he became paralyzed while making a tackle during a kick off in a game against Central College. He was given a 3% chance of ever regaining movement below the neck but has continued to recover some sensation and mobility throughout his body—including his hands, legs, feet and torso.^[1] Today he lives in Florida with his wife where he manages his non-profit foundation and works full-time as a motivational speaker.

Chris managed to work hard to defy all the odds and got to a point where he walked across the stage for his graduation. Inspired by the help and dedication of his fiance Chris made his next mission to walk down the aisle to marry the love of his life. Chris has an incredibly inspiring story. In this episode, we talk about the importance of accepting that sometimes life has better plans for you than you had for yourself.  

Chris shares how he was able to take his mess and turn it into a message. We discuss the importance of taking responsibility for your life no matter what the circumstances. He talks about how he made that choice and refused to accept the status quo but also accepting where he was at.

Your future will take care of itself if you take care of today.

We talk about celebrating the little wins in order to keep you motivated and moving forward. There is a balance of grieving the past and simultaneously move forward. Allowing ourselves to feel all the negative feelings rather than suppressing them.

Chris has recently published his new book The Seven Longest Yards.

https://www.amazon.com/Seven-Longest-Yards-Pushing-Leaning/dp/031035692X

Levi Allen is an adventure filmmaker and a gem of a human being. He is best known for his work on the Slack life series and his feature-length film Untethered. I had a chance to sit with Levi face to face and discuss filmmaking, relationships and some of the productivity strategies he employs in his life. Levi hosted a 6 day, 5 night storytelling workshop on a sailboat along the Sunshine Coast in BC.  Levi explains where his tag line "Life's better when you make stuff" originated with a level of detail and personal intimacy he has not yet captured on video. I think you will enjoy this one.

John Price is a photographer and climber. He has spent the last six years traveling all over the world, while basing himself out of Canada. Over the last three years John has been actively climbing and photographing rock, ice and alpine ascents throughout North America, including the deserts of Nevada, the Ruth Gorge in Alaska, the remote corners of the Himalaya, rural Japan and extensively throughout the Canadian Rockies. Currently based in Canmore, Alberta. Working as a freelance adventure, lifestyle and landscape photographer, John teaches private workshops, creates editorial pieces and shoots for commercial projects for a range of clients.

In this episode, we talk about what it takes to accelerate your learning and shorten the time frame for mastery in whatever field you are in. John shares how he leverages his mentors to learn more and learn faster. We get real and talk a little bit about John's struggles with anxiety and depression and how he handles that. We talk about how as a species we tend to suffer in silence. We talk about vulnerability and connection.

This episode is a special one. It was a bit of an experiment in the fact that I strapped on a couple of wireless Lav mics and ran with Dave to conduct this interview. I also believe this is the beginning of a long term friendship with Dave.

Dave lives in Okotoks, Alberta ,Canada, a small city just south of Calgary. Married since 2004 to the love of his life Sharon. They have three gloriously buzzing kids Julia (11), Sam (8), and Adele (6). Dave has a busy massage therapy practice specializing in deep tissue therapy, working out from two clinics: LIV ACTIV Injury Prevention & Rehabilitation in Calgary and Diamond Valley Chiropractic & Health Centre in Black Diamond. When he's not chasing his three monkeys and treating patients, he like to run obscene distances.

He is the world record holder for the furthest distance run on a treadmill in 24 hours (260.4kms), the Canadian record holder for 24hours (257.093kms), and hold numerous Canadian course records for ultramarathons.

His passion for running started in his teenage years running track and cross country in school. It went further in high school when he joined a Calgary track club (Caltaf Athletic Assn.) and started competing in Decathlon. In 2006 he ran his first ultramarathon in Lethbridge and hasn't turned back since.

In June of 2018 Dave will set out to break another record. He will be running across Canada in 66 days. He will average a total of 108KM per day for the entire 66 days. His "Why" is his son Sam who struggles daily with a rare disease called RECA, which makes simple movements difficult. Simply put, if he could run like his father he would never stop. Dave's goal is to raise over a million dollars for the Rare Disease Foundation.

In this episode, we talk a lot about self-limiting beliefs and how to push past them. We dive into ultramarathon running strategies including body management, mind management as well as nutrition and sleep strategies.

Dave talks about training both on and off the road. "Some of the best runners I know are some of the best people I know. I don't believe that is by accident."

We talk about how rare disease affects 1 in 12 Canadians and the lack of strategy that exists in our current health care system. Dave shares his 6 year journey finding a diagnosis for his son and the challenges this places on families.

There are so many incredible stories and nuggets of wisdom in this episode it is impossible for me to summarize them all here. Some of the things we discuss include:

• Nutrition
• Pain Management
• Self Limiting Beliefs
• Mindfulness
• Kindness
• The Power of Smiling
• The Rare Disease Foundation
• What it takes to run across Canada logistically
• World records
• Peak Performance
• So much more...

You can find out more about Dave's journey here at Out Run Rare. His personal site at runproctor.com

Jane Atkinson is a speakers coach with over 3 decades of expertise in her craft. She has worked with some of the best in the business to ignite their career. She is the author of a 3 books The Wealthy Speaker, The Wealthy Speaker 2.0  and The Epic Keynote. In this episode we discuss the systems and processes that Jane has put in place so that she can get off the hamster wheel of trading time for money.

Jane shares some of the strategies she has employed to help her clients reach 7 figure revenues in their business. While we talk about these strategies in depth we also talk about the need to consistently do good work. Not only do we need consistency we also need Clarity as well. There are no overnight successes are the result of long-term hard work.

Jane outlines her formula of Ready, Aim, Fire to get any business setup for success. All of the strategies that we discuss are applicable to any business not just the speaking business.

One of the keys to successful marketing is to make sure you "make it about them". We talk some direct strategies to make sure we speak to our customers in a meaningful way.

Resources discussed in the podcast

Dan Sullivan, Strategic Coach

Kindra Hall, Podcast Interview

Ryan Estis, Speaker 

Jane's Website

Jane's Books

Dr John Izzo is the bestselling author of seven books including the international bestsellers Awakening Corporate Soul, Values Shift, The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die, The Five Thieves of Happiness and Stepping Up. John's passion in helping organizations activate purpose with employees and customers has inspired him to write his 8th book, The Purpose Revolution: How Leaders Create Engagement and Competitive Advantage in an Age of Social Good, to be released March 13, 2018.

Over the last twenty years, he has spoken to over one million people, taught at three major universities, advised over 500 organizations and is frequently featured in the media by the likes of Fast Company, PBS, CBC, the Wall Street Journal, CNN, and INC Magazine. He has advised some of the best companies in the world on activating purpose including DuPont, TELUS, Manulife, McDonald’s, SAPA, RBC, Lockheed Martin, Qantas Airlines, Humana, Microsoft, and the Mayo Clinic.

John was a pioneer in the Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability movements and is an Adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia where he is a co-founder of The Men’s Initiative which is dedicated to creating a more “equitable, compassionate and sustainable world through enhancing the wellbeing and integrity of men.” John also serves on the Advisory Board of Sustainable Brands.

There are a number of reasons why today's leader needs to care about purpose within their organization:

1. Talent is the number one reason why purpose should matter to today's business leaders.
   - 60% of millennials would take a pay cut to work for a company that gave them a sense of purpose
   - 37% of the global workforce are purpose-focused
2. Because consumers care and will start to demand it. Customer acquisition and retention are solid reasons.
3. Because we all need to care about what we put out in the world.
4. Risk: Investors and shareholders are demanding purpose focused, socially responsible companies.

Dr. Izzo shares strategies for organizations to become more purpose-focused. We talk about the Purpose Gap and how you can communicate to your consumers and staff what your purpose is.

"We have to start talking about job purpose, not job function."

There are a lot of actionable gems in this interview. You can find a copy of the book here (You can also download a free chapter) 

The Purpose Revolution

Dr. Izzo is also a co-founder of something called The Men's Initiative. 

The Mission Of The Men’s Initiative Is “to Enhance The Integrity And Well-being Of Men For The Benefit Of Families, Communities And The World.”

The Vision Of The Men’s Initiative Is “men Strive Together For An Equitable, Compassionate And Sustainable World.” 

Some Links:

Dr. John Izzo
The way we think of charities is dead wrong

Janice Porter is a LinkedIn expert and Relationship Marketing expert who believes that LinkedIn will change everything! 

She prides herself in being a consummate networker and successfully connecting people for mutual benefit. She has been involved with various organizations and has built up a vast network that enables her to connect like-minded people. She has met many wonderful people through her various volunteer positions and she loves to be a "connector" for others.

She often undertakes leadership positions in organizations to practice what she preaches and is proactive when it comes to building and cultivating relationships. 

As a seasoned training specialist, her training focuses on how to authentically build relationships, communicate effectively and networking skills. Her passion for the subject matter, informal personal style, and ability to create an inclusive teaching environment enhances learning and creates stimulating conversations. She enjoys working with groups of all sizes and individuals in person and online.

We talk about how to use LinkedIn to source and cultivate solid business relationships.

Janice shares strategies for creating automated follow-up systems through Send Out Cards. You can create a mail sequence as well as send gifts directly from your phone.

If you visit Janice's website you can get a FREE list of 18 things you can do to optimize your LinkedIn profile. Download it here!

Selina Gray (CPA, CA, B.Comm) is a money relationship expert with over 14 years of experience reinventing finance for individuals, small business & corporations. Selina has successfully managed and integrated various corporate acquisitions and served as controller for two internationally publicly traded companies. She has led an international team of over 30 finance ninjas and has helped thousands of people change their relationship with money by finding harmony between their inner & outer richness. 

In this podcast we discuss what wealth really means. Selina shares her journey of discovery in her pursuit of wealth. It took a near death experience to accentuate the point that wealth is far more than the acquisition of money. She shares the lessons she learned through her adversity and what she would have shared with her younger self.

Selina discusses the concepts of what it means to explore your emotional relationship with money. I have always talked about how your beliefs define your behaviors which ultimately generate your results. Selina talks about how you need to start by exploring your beliefs about money and where those beliefs come from.

She shares with you some practical strategies for managing your money and the relationship you have with it.