You are the Founder of the Podcast Brunch Club. What’s it all about?
The best way to describe Podcast Brunch Club (PBC) is “like a book club, but for podcasts.” Conversation and dialogue are at the heart of PBC. So, every month a theme is chosen and one member of PBC will curate a list of 3-5 podcast episodes into a listening list. The listening list is sent out via the newsletter to members worldwide. Then, people meet in smaller groups (called chapters) around the world to discuss what they heard.
Suddenly paralyzed at 38, Becky found writing as a way to cope. In her new book, Rethinking Possible: A Memoir of Resilience, she shares her story of optimism and perseverance despite a series of life-changing losses.
You’re the co-author of One Minute Mentoring: How to Find and Work With a Mentor-And Why You’ll Benefit from Being One. How would you summarize the benefits of mentoring, for both the mentor and the mentee?
Isaac Newton said, “If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.” It’s true. We simply can’t reach our biggest goals and greatest dreams without the support of others. Mentoring is a specific, targeted way to give and receive in order to help you get where you’re going.
When her son died tragically at 17, Elizabeth channeled her grief into ELLA Designs, making and selling beautiful jewelry pieces, with 50% of the profits going to bipolar research.
As a writing coach, how do you work with clients? What is your process?
We learn to write in school, but don’t necessarily learn the elements of compelling storytelling. And we frequently write from “headspace,” the voice that centers on I, me, my. Journaling is rooted in headspace—intensely personal, driven by emotion, focused on feelings. Journaling rarely replicates life the way films and TV do-through scene and dialogue-because for the journal writer, there’s no need to describe what just happened. She already knows—she lived it.
Passionately pouring out your thoughts, reactions, and ideas is fine if your goal is personal problem-solving. Journaling is a private endeavor that’s all about connecting to self. Writing is communication—it’s public-facing. Good writing connects to the reader.
After a long career in Human Resources, Molly found the voice she’d quieted in her youth and began to write. Her book, Blush: Women & Wine
, explores how so many of us turn to wine to soothe our discomfort and avoid painful feelings.
After a long career in fundraising, a move, and a divorce, Janet made her dream of joining the Peace Corps come true. She writes about leaving everything behind to move to Kazakhstan with her new husband, in her memoir: At Home on the Kazakh Steppe
.
After 20 years helping low-income students, Katherine was feeling stuck and called to do something new. She has leveraged her talent and passion for helping others tell their stories to launch her own business as a presentation and story coach.