For Our Edification

When my family talked about getting a dog, I talked about how much work it would be for us. What I didn’t anticipate was how much having a dog would teach us about ourselves. Who knew? Wilfred "Woofred" Hester knew. As a professional dog trainer, Wilfred works with dog parents to help them understand how their behaviors determine their dogs' responses. If things go well, the result is a host of pe...

Some of the people I admire most are servant leaders. These are folks who put others first. But they do so to help guide groups and communities in specific directions. One of my very cool higher ed marketing and communications colleagues, Jenny Petty , has such a fascination with servant leadership that she hosts a podcast called The Servant Marketer. Jenny visited For Our Edification for a robust...

On May 27th, USA Today published the article, "How funders, school leaders can step up to combat philanthropic disparities faced by HBCUs.” The only problem is that I felt the article needed a bit more fundraising and philanthropy meat on the bone. Cue our resident fundraising and philanthropy expert-- Dr. Halima Leak Francis and the Write to Bear Alms segment. Having researched fundraising capaci...

Halima and I continue our conversation about how people struggle with shame. This part of the conversation goes deeply into leadership. We tackle how chaos aggravates one's feeling of shame while hiding others' feelings of shame. We also go into how organizational culture plays into individuals' feelings of shame, and also how accountability can be weaponized. So, how do we deal with feeling shame...

It's so refreshing to have Dr. Halima Leak Francis back on the mic with me! She had something serious on her heart and wanted to share it with the "For Our Edification" audience. Halima wants you to know that there's no shame in the struggle.  She has ever so wise words about the importance of showing up when you're in the middle of the struggle and how she works through moments of struggle, even...

In this second part of my conversation with Joel Goodman , we talk a bit more about website strategy for colleges and universities. But an interesting moment happens when we get real about how burnout looks for higher ed marketers and what it's like having to manage egos. Finally, we learn about Joel's new podcast, Appendix B, which he co-hosts with his Bravery Media colleague, Kristin Van Dorn. T...

I had something on my brain. No more "soft skills!" Find out why I believe that term needs to go. References: LinkedIn: Why I Hate the Term 'Soft Skills' Medium: Soft Skills: Origin, where it comes from and Concept National Career Development Association: Why We Should Stop Using ‘Soft’ Skills The views expressed on "For Our Edification" do not necessarily reflect the views of any entity with whic...

Over the past few years, there has been an explosion of higher ed marketing podcasts that explore what it's like sitting in the seat of a higher ed marketer. It sounds like fun, right? The truth is that it is an incredibly fun job, but things also get quite real. One podcast that candidly explored the world of the higher ed marketer is Thought Feeder, on which I had the pleasure of appearing.  I i...

Doing social media for a brand can't be all that different from doing it for a personal account...right? A lot of folks, including hiring managers, still haven't gotten the memo. As a higher education marketer who has managed social media for three institutions, I know how different and emotionally taxing social media management can be for a brand. Jon-Stephen Stansel , who is the director of soci...

When there are major changes in any company or institution, the focus is often on what the leaders will do. But how do major moves, such as leadership changes or mergers and acquisitions, affect the employees? Change management expert, Dr. Robin M.L. Johnson , joins the podcast to provide insight about the very important role of emotional intelligence and how organizational changes affect those no...

Deion Sanders' leaving Jackson State University to take the football head coach job at the University of Colorado inspired lively debate on social media and sports talk shows. And, somehow, quite a few folks decided that Sanders "saved" HBCUs! I brought in Jackson State alum and PR professional, Eddie Brown , to discuss the bigger issue--how Jackson State and other HBCUs provide opportunities to t...

On January 1, 2022, the mentoring organization, Son of a Saint , celebrated its 11th anniversary. It came from the vision of Bivian “Sonny” Lee, III who wanted to help young men without fathers in their homes. Lee's vision resulted in one of New Orleans’ most respected nonprofit organizations. On the old Eddie Francis Podcast Show a few years back, Halima and I had a chat with Sonny about Son of a...

My dude David Grubb visited For Our Edification again to talk sports. This time, we had a rich conversation about mental health in sports. David is a sports reporter who has been in the locker room with pro athletes after crushing defeats, and he has seen the effects that injuries have had on athletes' mental health. He is even open about managing his own mental health. David commented on Naomi Os...

There is no doubt that creativity is ever-present in our lives, but how much do we take away from ourselves when we don't invest in our creativity? And do we take creativity seriously in the Black community? After watching the documentary "The Creative Brain," I had questions. I turned to a couple of great, creative friends, Khalilah Elliott and Jamal Sterling . Khalilah is the founder and chief d...

When 6th-grade teacher Dee Holt told his class that he was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, they joked that he was a member of "Apple Fried Apple." Dee decided to do what just about any Divine Nine member may be tempted to do. He turned seven of his students into a "line" of "Seeds." Apple Fried Apple captured the hearts of many Divine Nine members and even the nation.  My fellow Alpha brother did me...

Does motivational speaking get you...motivated? With so many motivational speakers out there, some question whether or not they hold real value. At the same time, maybe there isn't enough motivation out there.  To talk this out, I turned to an old speaking colleague of mine, Mark Wiggins . Mark is a speaker, author, trainer, and host of the "Off the Bench" podcast . We talk about how he got into t...

If you followed me on social media, you may have noticed that, at times, I reference narcissistic leadership. You may even believe that I have somewhat of an obsession with narcissism. The reason narcissism tends to be such a big deal to me is 1) my professional experiences, and 2) I researched narcissism in leadership for my master's degree. What a revelation! In this episode, I break down what n...

During her vice presidential nomination speech, Kamala Harris gave a shout-out to the Divine Nine after mentioning her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha. Many of us were pretty excited that she took the time to do so. But why, on the biggest stage of her career and in such a critical moment, would she do such a thing? I know exactly why--identity and value. Alpha Kappa Alpha, like so many of our sororit...

In 2018, on the old Eddie Francis Podcast Show, Halima and I thought it would be great to interview Eric and Maleka Beal , a husband and wife team that lost nearly 300 lbs., combined. Their feat was so impressive that the couple had been featured on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," "Dr. Oz," in Essence, and People. Their success also led them to start the health and wellness company Better Choices . In t...

Every September, HazingPrevention.org holds National Hazing Prevention Week to create and share awareness about the dangers of hazing. An instrumental figure in tracking hazing deaths is Hank Nuwer . On the old Eddie Francis Podcast Show, we talked to professional mental health counselors Leslie Brown and Dr. Von Eaglin about the psychology of hazing, particularly in the Divine Nine. As a member o...

August is Black Philanthropy Month , so that means it's Halima and Write to Bear Alms time! With such a great celebration, there are many who get into the spirit of giving. One's giving should have purpose, however. For this edition of the Write to Bear Alms segment, Halima breaks down how having a philanthropic identity can lead to more meaningful giving. Halima breaks down the philanthropic iden...

In so many conversations about college, someone inevitably offers up that "college isn't for everybody." There's no disputing that, but we decided to challenge that statement. On this episode of For Our Edification, we don't challenge its truth so much as we challenge the frequency with which it is said. Specifically, we discuss why that statement does more harm to Black America than any other sec...

Here is a pair of throwback interviews to my radio days when I was a co-producer and contributor to the award-winning show "Sunday Journal with Hal Clark". In 2010, I was introduced to hip hop artist and educator Voice Monet , whose discography includes "Black Maria" and "Voice Presents Cutz". Voice's single "Black Maria" features her mother Zardis .   Before that, however, I had the pleasure of i...

It's a throwback on For Our Edification for the Write to Bear Alms segment! On this episode, we're going back to the old "Eddie Francis Podcast Show" when Halima had a conversation about Black philanthropy. Her guests were Darryl Lester and Vince Bayyan. The conversation defined Black philanthropy, discussed trends, and the importance of empowering everyday people to be strategic in their giving....

Social media was abuzz in early 2019 when two documentaries about the infamous Fyre Festival dropped on Netflix and Hulu . People could not believe how the event got so out of hand and how the festival's creator seemed oblivious to the harm he caused several parties in the process. I believe the reason is McFarland's narcissism. Using my professional experience and information I am gathering for m...