Zoo-notable

We're closing out Women's "Empowerment" Month with a banger-- an interview with author, life coach, and wonderful mentor Laurie Buchanan, author of Note to Self, a Seven-Step Path to Gratitude and Growth. We discuss her book and using color (the energy and feeling of color) to help us, along with breathing, and affirmations. Check out Laurie's work , find a copy of her books...

It's a Flashback day on Zoo-notable as I discuss a book from 2008, What Shamu Taught Me About Life, Love, and Marriage by Amy Sutherland. An oldie but a goodie. We'll talk about animal training, but how it pertains to US, personally-- how to change our behavior, how to use animal training methods, why to avoid punishment, and why we should NEVER take our healthy habits for granted (ie- alw...

Atlas of the Heart by Brené Brown is such an incredible book, I couldn't contain it to one single episode. So, here's part 2 of ways we can connect better through understanding our emotions. There are a ton of resources, but mainly, if you want more from Brené Brown, visit her website at brenebrown.com. There is also a self-compassion test you can take and more resources at self-compassion...

Brené Brown is one of my heroes, bordering on idol for me. And this book took my breath away. I'll definitely return to it time after time to help me understand and map out my own emotions and allow myself grace and vulnerability to feel. We're celebrating women all month, and kicking off with a doozie, so return next week as we continue our deep dive into Atlas of the Heart Join the ZooFi...

Cindy is a special heroine of mine, getting involved with Polar Bears International and AAZK's Trees for You and Me program to help the furry loves of her life, polar bears, and combat climate change. She came up with the concept of Party for Polar Bears at Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium as a fundraiser with their local AAZK chapter. Their success has led to raising over $46,000 for conservat...

Animal Allies- 15 Amazing Women in Wildlife Research is perfect for younger audiences and inspiring them to go for their dreams. Whether studying ants, turtles, big cats, or whales, these women show integrity, passion, grit, and resilience in their field. Check out a copy of Animal Allies at your local library or grab a copy for yourself or someone you know. Check out some of these related Zoo-not...

Happy Lunar New Year to everyone, and welcome to the Year of the Dragon. I can't wait to share today's book, How to Train Your Dragon by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III (translated by Cressida Cowell). It's very different from the movie, and worth a listen to the audio book, which you can get for free on Libby . It's a fun read, and has some poignant lessons that animal trainers, in...

Let's get (un)comfortable discussing racism in this very special discussion on the book Dear White Wome n by Sara Blanchard and Misasha Suzuki Graham. It was a real eye-opener, and touches on very important issues, so I encourage everyone to read it (not just White Women). Check it out for yourself- at your local library or grab a copy for yourself (highly recommended so you can reference agai...

Today, I welcome Ardelle Holden, 4-time published author of mysteries (one of my favorite genres to read to just kick back and get away from it all). We're discussing her upcoming book, Killing Imaginary Friends, Book One of the  Oliver Frampton Mystery Series . If you like suspenseful, emotional, coming-of-age angst, you’ll love Ardelle's gripping story of Olly’s imaginary friends who tor...

This week's book is one of those unique books that while I found some decent Big Ideas, I mostly felt it was the type of book that I read so you don't have to. I discuss anthropomorphism, emotions in zoo animals, and animals as virtuous guides. If you want to learn more about the Emotional Lives of Animals, check out the book from your local library or listen to it on Libby App (free libra...

How can being a better writer help us be better zookeepers, better conservationists, or just improve our quality of life, help us accomplish our goals and dreams, and change the world? Delve into the Miracle Morning for Writers to find out how we can use affirmations to beat Imposter Syndrome, change our mindset around mornings, and create mini-habits that make a big difference. Want to check out...

For Season 4 premiere, I'm revisiting Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod (listen to the very first Zoo-notabl e I ever did, see how much I've changed...). Hal came out with an updated and extended version of his life-changing book, so I decided it was a perfect opportunity to delve into the wonderful program Hal has created, and how I've made it my own. Check out Miracle Morning for yourself...

December 3 is World Coati Day. So I sat down with Colby Franz of World Coati Day to discuss this incredible animal! We need coatis and coatis need us. Even though they are not a mega-fauna, this charismatic creature is worth our attention. Want to learn more? Connect with World Coati Day online on their website (and sign up for their newletter to get adorable animal photos delivered to your inbox)...

In my season finale, I share with you all my favorite books from 2023. I read more than 60 books this year, and shared ideas from 30 of them over the past year. 10. Geekerella/Once Upon a Con Series 9. A Dog Called Hope 8. Thanks, Carissa, for Ruining My Life 7. Raised by the Zoo 6. Wisdom From a Humble Jellyfish 5. Odder 4. Man's Search for Meaning 3. It Takes What It Takes 2. High Five Habit...

It was such an immense pleasure to sit down with one of my animal care heroes, Gerry Creighton, the former operations manager at Dublin Zoo and currently consultant of Global Elephant Care, a company he founded to help zoos promote excellent welfare for elephants and other animals. This guy is the real deal, someone who has witnessed firsthand the evolution of Dublin Zoo from Victorian menagerie t...

This week is Orangutan Caring Week (celebrate Orange is for Orangutans on the Wednesday of OCW, which is November 15th). I read a cute little book called Love the Orangutan by Stefan Casta and Anna Viktorson, which I picked up, believe it or not, at IKEA. It's a really sweet book, sharing interesting facts about orangutans, and it's illustrated very well. Reading about orangutans reminded...

"As hard as the craft of writing is, the greatest challenges writers face are often within ourselves. Comparison, self-doubt, isolation, and other internal struggles can derail a writer's progress, at any stage in the writing life. Author, essayist, and speaker William Kenower knows these struggles first-hand, and hears them from writers everywhere he teaches and appears. In this candid a...

You ever find yourself procrastinating? Well then, my friend, it's time to Eat That Frog!! Brian Tracy gives us 21 good reasons to figure out the most important work for your life and day and get on it already. Big Ideas include Setting the Table for Success (planning and the 10 goals list), Visualizing Who You Want to Be, the ABCDE Method, Identify What is IN YOU that holds you back, and Thin...

As we approach Halloween, I thought the topic of grit might be appropriate, and how we can gain a little more resilience, tenacity, and initiative in our lives. I discuss big ideas like learning grit, rejection and failure help us succeed, minding the gap between effort and success, developing a growth mindset (becoming more like bamboo), and helping others helps us stay gritty. If you liked this...

How do you reduce the gap between the life you live now and the life you want? How can choosing our response be our one truest freedom that no one on earth can take away? These profound questions have helped guide me for the past 4 years, and they are thanks to a Nazi concentration camp survivor and psychiatrist who developed Logotherapy, Viktor E. Frankl and his amazing book Man's Search for...

I love it when I get to catch up with amazing friends while also discussing their amazing stories. Miranda Levi is a prolific author with three novels ( Tear in Time, From a Youth a Fountain Did Flow, and Mo(ther) Na(ture) )and a book of poetry (In Orion's Hands) out already, and isn't slowing down anytime soon. She sat down with me to discuss her latest project, Mo(ther) Na(ture), and dis...

What is the most important behavior to teach an animal? For me, when working with dolphins, it was the "target". Teach an animal to touch a target and the sky's the limit to training other behaviors. Working with Thor, a bottlenose dolphin, and teaching him and other dolphins to perform a vertical spin jump helped me learn the value of a target behavior-- the one thing that will prop...

GRAZE (Growing Resiliency in Aquarium and Zoo Employees) is an amazing organization dedicated to helping animal care professionals maintain their mental health and promote strategies for staying resilient in a stressful and often chaotic world. Whenever I talk to Shannon, we tend to geek out about treating ourselves more like the animals in our care, and today is no different. It's a FANTASTIC...

I love chatting with my published author friends, but this was an especially wonderful treat, sitting down with author Barbara Wolf Terao to discuss her memoir Reconfigured. Barbara met on the gorgeous Whidbey Island as both of us started on our journeys towards writing our stories. She's completed hers, and honored me with the chance to read the book, which is a moving, uplifting, and just ov...

To celebrate National Wildlife Day on September 4, I pulled out this fun book about leadership, titled Wisdom from the Wild: Nine Unbreakable Laws of Leadership from the Animal Kingdom, by Julie C. Henry. I recommend this book to anyone in a leadership role, or who WANTS to be in a leadership role, or thinks they may be put in a leadership role. We focus on five of the nine "laws" becaus...