Back2Different

Katherine Porter ( katherine@theresourcewoman.com ) is quietly and convincingly passionate about creating ‘better,’ especially for women. After having lawyered for twenty years, she decided, in the throes of the pandemic, to start her own business blogging and coaching to help spread the word that whether from a humanity sense or from a purely business sense, being more inclusive and building empl...

In 1976, Mohamed Hammoud fled Lebanon with his family to escape a civil war. Arriving in Canada, he was told to change his name to “Mike” in order to fit in. Over the years, as he moved and explored, he changed his name again and again— Mikeal in Quebec, Miguel in Spain, and finally back to himself, Mohamed. He and I had a terrific journey of ideas and insights over 30 minutes, and now I have a wo...

There are perfect words whose meaning and sound transcend definition. Putz , for example, to capture perfectly that person who pulls into your parking space just ahead of you. L’appel du vide , that feeling some of us get like we’re being pulled to jump when we’re on a 30th-floor balcony. And einstellung just appeared in my reading. I’m very glad to welcome it aboard. Listen to a brief journey int...

bmorgan@thinkdeeplywriteclearly.com is a great email address and pretty much captures Brian Morgan’s passion and mission. We both have worked as actors, both approach our work as an extension of our minds, heart, and spirit, and we are both fascinated by the dimensions of language. Writing, in particular, has brought us great sweat and great happiness. Brian offers a gripping insight - we need to...

I’ve been skipping along through articles and posts on the web, stopping here and there when a piece grabs me. There are three stipulations (which I didn’t develop, but simply realized). First, that the author is pitching insight rather than product. Second, the writing shows care and attention. Third, the author is increasing the reader’s understanding. So that’s how I found Michelle Jane van Ren...

Ric Gonzalez-Rothi and I met walking down the street where we both live. Before COVID, we’d have said “Hi” or so, both of us being friendly. But instead we stopped and talked, and that became our habit. Ric is a retired physician and teacher with boundless credentials coupled with boundless dedication to his work and to people. Please join us as we talk about health, society, family, the outdoors,...

Spending more time on the web these days, I wade through lots of articles and postings that are hawking a product or trying to claim special expertise. The first sentence of Gillian Thomson’s post on a leadership site was about heart-centered leadership, and it was also from the heart. So we talked. About vulnerability, women in leadership, her son, her journey, our shared love of discovery and be...

Seeing Alex and his son Luke provides an instant glimpse of love and responsibility. Alex is intentional in everything he does, and he also laughs easily and he’s wonderfully self-effacing. He works to help other folks through his position at Fannie Mae. He speaks about the analytical focus of his career, but his voice is the voice of a teacher, of a leader who values the warmth of relationships a...

Baltimore Colts marching band, dancer and choreographer, doctorate in social psychology, Academic Chair of Human Services at Anne Arundel Community College—Dr. Nicole Williams holds nothing back. Community colleges are not just about subject matter and degrees. They also, in every sense, serve their population as support and connection. I’m currently enrolled in a course of study at AACC. It’s cha...

If you’ve lived in the Washington area for a while, you’ve heard Bob Timm’s voice. WHFS a few years back, introducing lots and lots of live bands, and now at WRNR in Annapolis. Like me, Rob has traveled the music road, we’ve both provided sound reinforcement behind a mixer for live music, and we both love what we do. Speaking with my friend reminded me how important community is right now, and tha...

On his own since 13, John Bowling started work as a commercial fisherman, pulling in King Crab and salmon off the coast of Alaska. It’s one of the most grueling and dangerous jobs on the planet. Now John holds a PhD in psychology and provides leadership learning with his consulting operation, Sustainable Leadership. We hit it off from the git-go. We share a kaleidoscopic career path, enthusiasm fo...

We’ve been blindsided by the pandemic. Yet we haven’t. This wave has revealed some deep flaws and cracks in our culture and our institutions. We’ve been stumbling along with these for some time, maybe just because they were familiar. That stumbling includes how we see learning and how we see leadership. The dislocation of education from big-box schools creates a space for us to re-build better . L...

I love the journey I took with Teresa as she and I explored the connection between accomplishment and journey. Too often we don’t celebrate the necessary increments—training, for instance—that are the motor behind the crowning accomplishment, say completing a marathon. And this applies to our emotions, our thinking, our reactions, our development and our relationships. Teresa calls that process in...

“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door,” says Bilbo Baggins. How many of us are feeling that way right now? Please join Colin Smith and I as we explore everything from Zoom fatigue to Goggle research. Colin’s work—through his operation, Dexterity Solutions —is founded in listening. Seems to be a dearth of that most humane of human behaviors right now. Maybe we can find room...

One of the unforeseen (at least by me) ripples from the pandemic has been the dissolution of distance. Dia and I found resonance in our points of view about leadership and learning online, and we've been talking ever since, though we've never met ftf. Dia re-introduced me to wabi-sabi, which I remember from my college days - the idea of transience and imperfection, especially in art. We...

Dennis Pitocco and I happenstanced (newly coined) via writing and realized we're both energized by possibility. Dennis found his success first through business, then through giving. These days, his title is Chief Reimaginator for a very cool cyber environment indeed: 360Nation ( https://www.bizcatalyst360.com ). As we back-and-forthed, we arrived at a question for back2different: However else...

My first (slightly unwilling) visit to Excel Pilates -  two seconds in the door and I felt like I was coming home. It feels like a community, not just a business. Kerry De Vivo’s love of her work and respect for everyone permeates her – their – studio, and I’ve been a devotee ever since.  Kerry’s story, her celebration of fitness, fairness, and movement all serve her well now as she maintains her...

Sean Casey, Senior Project Manager at Colleague Consulting, is part of my new wave of friends whom I have never met ftf. Back 2 different , right? Like me, he's fired up about discovery and possibility. He promotes better as a vision that accepts risk and pushes forward. When we talk about where learning can go, his conversation is always generative —not just how we react to the “new differen...

So. Jimi Davies. Annapolis Neighbor. Publisher and Creative Director, Up. St. ART. And, of course, Jimmie’s Chicken Shack. Oh, and a boxer named Betty White. We’ve said Hi, talked about the land around our little houses, and now we talk a bit about how this time in our lives and in the world has opened up possibilities for discovery: LIVE FEED. Never know what's going to show up when you clic...

Boundaries brings me together with Krystyna Petersen and James Perryman, two entrepreneurs who launched their new project, MyPeopleClub on March 2. Talk about timing! Their discovery and learning as they have navigated this time of turmoil is part of the story they share with their clients at their online community and learning platform (www.mypeopleclub.com). Never know what's going to show...

Marilyn O’Hearne combines a strong grounding in executive coaching with a focus on cultural intelligence and compassion. Her message is focused, powerful, and inclusive. Join us for Bias, Grace and The Nap Ministry. Never know what's going to show up when you click 'record'!

Michael Iannini and I discovered each other through a shared passion for learning and a hunger for change. We want to transform assumptions about what school is for and how schools work (or don’t). Join us as Michael and I share our enthusiasm and focus on pivot points for change. Never know what's going to show up when you click 'record'!

I asked Colby Peters to lend us some insight into how honest grieving makes room to see what we otherwise miss. She reframes “crisis” within the context of its origins, and she points out the path to tiny miracles, something we all need right now. Never know what's going to show up when you click 'record'!

I hear “back to normal” when people talk about Covid 19. It’s going to be not-the-same as we enter whatever the next stage is. So let’s spend some energy being grateful for this pause and use the time to push forward instead of to push back. Never know what's going to show up when you click 'record'!