The Breakout – Unleashing Personal Growth

Listening to Sam Thiara is just what you need as we wrap up 2021. Sam asks the tough “why” questions of himself and others. He asks these questions in a caring and empathic manner because he wants everyone to understand themselves and realize their dreams.  Sam tells us about his decision to change up his career when he knew he was wearing a suit (aka career) that didn’t fit. He wanted to understa...

Celebrate National Gratitude Month and Thanksgiving with Tom Nehila. Tom shares his deeply personal story about his divorce and how it changed his life.  Tom grew up on the East Coast with a focus on sports, competition and business. His mind was the most important, not his heart. He had the successful career, a wife and three sons, his life seemed “perfect”, but then he and his wife divorced.  Du...

Eileen Tarjan starts off explaining the need to tend to our inner child and why it is difficult for people to bring their whole selves to work. This premise propels her to help people be seen and heard.  Why is that her work?  Eileen tells us the decision that changed her life. First, the decision was made for her: she was laid off from her corporate HR position. That night, she had the best night...

Gavin Doyle started his own business at 13 years old. Yep, you read that right! He fell in love with Disney at 4 years old (when it wasn’t crowded BTW). He decided to take his passion and create a website which turned into a business and a book. This entrepreneurial spirit started at a young age with lemonade stands and selling wrapping paper.  Following his passion at 13 changed his life and prop...

Tricia Manning had us at “I love the CHARGE model”. But back to Tricia! After 25 years in corporate she had the hallmarks of success: office, promotion, salary. One day she scheduled appointments for her husband to go for a health screen and she thought, “I might as well do it too.” While she was at the health screen, they told her she needed open heart surgery. What the heck? She talks about her...

Phil Strazzulla starts off providing a few great ideas to help us focus on self care and make time for creativity. He continues to tell us the decision he made that changed the trajectory of his life: Middle school wrestling. Yep, you read that right! Trying out for a sport that he wasn’t good at and failing at it for a couple years changed his life.  Phil tells us that he was a shy, skinny kid an...

Stephanie M. Hutchins, PhD starts off our chat with one of her favorite mantras: “30 years of adventure rather than 100 years in the corner”. 100% yes! Stephanie shares her intensely personal story about her trauma and how it has shaped her life. She experienced trauma early on in her childhood and then, in her 20’s, she slipped into a dark hole after she found her significant other dead. She coul...

Part Two: All about advice! Raymond Kemp Sr. gives us his top tips: 1) Bias towards action 2) Embrace who you are, and 3) Enjoy the journey. He also suggests finding a mentor who believes in you, helps you gain momentum to help you reach your goals and tells you the truth!  And, you will want to hear about the US President he has met who surprised him the most. He ends his interview with us with a...

Part One: You don’t want to miss this two-part episode with Raymond Kemp, Sr.! Why is it two parts? Well, at the 24:55 min mark, Raymond’s audio went out. Part 2 is filled with advice and insights into the current state of the Navy. Be sure to listen.  In Part One, Raymond shares his story of walking into a Naval office to get his new assignment in the IT/technology department and the leader told...

We start with a scary stat: Jeff Breskin has seen more employee lawsuits in the past 36 months as compared to his 35 years in the industry in regards to workers’ compensation. He is the most passionate safety and workers’ compensation professional we have ever met. Period.  He has had the passion all his life for working hard and helping people. It was a strong thread throughout his life and was i...

Looking for that perfect blend of humor, wit and reflection? Allen Esrock delivers! We talk about TikTok, cat videos and not looking at Allen Esrock’s internet history when he was running a tween girls’ networking site! Allen shares with us the moment he realized that running the family retail business was not for him. He had other dreams! Allen drove from St. Louis, MO to Los Angeles, CA to reali...

Yep, we have an Olympian on our podcast! What timing! We could not be more thrilled to have Maggie Malone as our guest. She holds the American record in women’s javelin and will be heading to Tokyo representing the US in the 2021 Olympics! Just having her talk about how she trains and focuses would be enough, but we do more at reCHARGE Your Life:)  Maggie shares her incredibly personal story on he...

Haven Cockerham already failed at retirement once. He lives on a golf course though he doesn't play golf! Why did he fail? He doesn’t have time. Haven is continuously pushing himself to learn new things, be surrounded by new thinking, soak up ideas from younger generations and living in a community that challenges his mind and provides beautiful mountain and ocean landscapes.  Haven is a true chan...

How do we push ourselves out of our comfort zone? What does it mean to "pimp the system"? Desmond Jefferson explains all of this and tells us about the moment that changed his life.  Desmond did the typical thing in college. He partied, he hung out too late...in short, he didn’t take it seriously. One day after being placed on academic probation (which he never failed a class before), he had to ma...

A special Father’s Day podcast (and, nope, we didn’t plan it that way, but we are lucky that the stars aligned). We begin with Dominic Toscanelli sharing his love of data and spreadsheets. Don’t worry, there is more to the interview and a great book recommendation for new dads.  When asked what changed his life, Dominic speaks from the heart on the sudden death of his father and how he had to refr...

Collecting experiences and living life. Lyndal Larkin is passionate about being true to these beliefs. She has a background in travel and hospitality, aviation, operations and learning and development. She was working in operations and participated in a training for managers and fell in love with learning and development and that changed her life.  Throughout these changes, Lyndal has exposed hers...

You don’t want to miss Tonya McKenzie’s interview. Tonya has lived enough life for several books and hours of podcast content. Through it all, she has relied on her love of learning and laughter. Tonya talks about her passion around teaching others and leaving the world in a better place than she found it. She put her money where her mouth is and gave up her dream to take care of her sisters after...

How are comedians and leaders similar? More than you might think! You need to be in tune with the audience (employees), you need to listen and adjust (flexibility) and you want the audience (employees) to have an engaging time. Hone your comedic skills and you are honing your leadership skills.  Sammy Wegent started in the arts and on stage and now helps others in business. He understands that lea...

We kick off talking with Dan Flynn about fate of the Edsel and move to the necessity of the grind for whatever you want in life! There are no short cuts. No matter what job or chapter of life you are in…you must put in the hard work. Dan tells us the two great decisions that changed his life. He discusses his move from corporate to going out on his own. He comes from a long line of entrepreneurs a...

Incredible levels of energy and a positive outlook. That describes our guest, Kathy Dawson, perfectly. She has been focused on her goals since she sat with her typewriter at age 12. She learned when she was 16 that you could not control other people and instead you need to focus on what you can control.  She personifies courage, goal-orientation and resilience. She shares why she started her staff...

"When you want something, the universe conspires to helping you achieve it."  "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear." These are some of Nadine Chapman’s favorite quotes and they have changed her life. Oh, and we talk about how your "dinosaur tail" gets in your way. It is the start of a great conversation!  Nadine started her career in the Federal Government as an attorney and rose up...

Ideas. Ideas. Ideas. Valerie Paris shares with us her favorite book on ideas. How they move through the universe, how they visit you and how they leave you. Profound words on the concept of ideas. And that is just the beginning of our conversation with Valerie.  Valerie discusses her decision to transition two years ago. Her transition began when she asked herself the question: If you could live y...

We kick off our conversation with guest Jacquelyn Adams by talking about solving problems. It is so simple: take a break from the problem, take a walk and clear your head! You will be amazed at the ideas that come to you. And that is just the beginning with Jacquelyn. Listen to her story about leaving Hicksville, OH (not a typo) and her computer programming job to join the Peace Corps.  Why the ch...

It is going to be a good episode when we kick off with an infinite mindset discussion. Julie Neumark chats with us about trying to live a long-term mindset and how humility is a key to her success. And, she needed to tap into her humility as she left her music career. Julie started off as a singer/song writer and after years, she was signed! But that lasted for only 18 months and it was over. Now...

Do you know what a movement educator is? Neither did we. Luckily, Nandini Basu explains it to us! Nandini also talks about her journey from working in corporate to becoming a Master Pilates instructor.  She recalls a time when a student told her that “You are a blessing in my life” and how that feeling didn’t match the feelings she was receiving in the corporate world. The question was then…what d...