TOP SHOWS OF 2023 With Howard Brown

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Hello, it's Howard Brown. It's the Shining Brightly

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Podcast Show. This week, we're doing a year in review top shows

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of 2023. This is episode 60. So thanks for listening,

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downloading, sharing and reviewing what a year it's been.

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I started this podcast as an offshoot of the publishing of my

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book. And to be able to start a movement, to shine brightly, use

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our light, and get out of the darkness, and be able to live a

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life of kindness, and giving and healing, as well as use that

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resiliency and mental toughness to live a good life with hope.

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And that's what we're doing. So I have so many interesting

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guests. It's really been an incredible 60 episodes. And I'm

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gonna highlight a bunch of them. I've got more than a top 10

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list, because some of them actually tied and reviewed them

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with lots of people and my publisher, and the votes are in.

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So we're going to share my screen for those that are

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watching. But for those that are listening, it's okay, I'll be

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I'll be descriptive as far as how that works. So let me share

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my screen. Here we go. And there it is. Yeah. All right. So it's

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just been an incredible experience, interviewing the

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most interesting people, great guests, with great stories of

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either overcoming anything from hardship, to illness, in

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business, and in life and in relationships, and sharing their

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inspiration with the audience and my people. And it's been

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great. I've really enjoyed every minute of it. So welcome to the

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shining, brightly show, 2023 year in review, top shows. So

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we'll go to the slide show. And there we go. All right. So I did

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four solo shows this year. And they were actually really

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important shows. The first show was 18 equals life. Now, it's

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not showing on the screen. But that was just my appreciation

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for my cancer anniversary of being diagnosed. June 16 2016.

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Yeah, June 4 2016. And what happened was, is that I just had

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an appreciation for life. And I've been through a lot, a lot

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of treatment, chemotherapy, side effects, lots of surgeries,

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clinical trials, then went metastatic, and so many people,

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you know, honour so many people that one, get diagnosed, two

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that are still in treatment, and three that are have passed away

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because their cancer burden was too great. And God called them

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to heaven. And this is why I shout at the top of my lungs to

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go get screened. So that was episode 18 also did episode on

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cancer screen week as well. So go get screened for your

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mammography, for your prostate for your lady doctor and

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cervical cancers, colonoscopy through a for colon cancer and

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also lung cancer, and just go be healthy because if you're not

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your optimal self, you you can't lift yourself up and help

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others. As I always say, the next episode was a Father's Day

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episode. It was for all the dads out there, and especially to my

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miracle girl, Amelie. And it's the best job and it's a hard

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job. But boy, is it a blessing to be a dad. And I've just what

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a great episode. So episode 18 was life and then episode

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Father's Day was 31. And you can go back and listen to those

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episodes and just terrific. Good stuff. Episode 42 was done in

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August and it was about getting my chemo poured out. After seven

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and a half years I had this little port inside of me that

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was underneath my clavicle, and it connected to my vena cava.

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And it was how chemotherapy got put into me and it's a pretty

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vital piece so you don't have to poke the veins but Some people

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told me I was crazy because I played basketball a lot with my

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chemo port. And so I would protect myself with my hand over

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my heart and protecting the port. When I felt contact, the

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other hand was protecting the crown jewels. But basketball was

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my happy place. And so when you go through and get knocked down,

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as I always say, you must get back up again and again, learn

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from the darkness, but get back up and survivorship and putting

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Humpty Dumpty back together again, not once, but twice,

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maybe even a third time. I dedicated episode 42 to that,

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and episode 50 They hate me, but they don't even know me. And

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this is a serious episode. Because what's going on in the

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world. It was about hate. It's about how you can choose to

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hate. It's not something that we're born with. It's learned.

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And there's just a lot of hate going on in the world. And it's

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unacceptable to me. And I do a tonne of interfaith work. And I

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think it broadens your culture, the history, foods, religion, of

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learning about other people and understanding them, it broadens

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you and they in turn can learn about you and your culture and

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your religion and your history and your foods and be good

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neighbours. And so with all the hate going on, and the rise of

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anti semitism the rise of Islamophobia. Episode 50 was

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really an important episode. So now I want to change it up just

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a teeny bit and talk about episode 36. Oh my god. I had

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rice and thrive together. And these are my art our sisters and

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Regina Rossi. And it was just unbelievable. Dr. Raquel Stewart

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and these women crack me up. I played a game of she said she

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said they introduced each other and they told something secret

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about themselves. And I'm not going to spoil it for you. You

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have to go back and listen to episode 36. The they are amazing

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energy. life coaches, couples coaches, they will get you back

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on track. Let me tell you, I also got to go on their TV show.

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They were on. Shout out to Blanca and Blanca Perper. She

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has runs a Roku channel with 50,000 subscribers. And it's the

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laws of life channel. Shout out to her and oh my god, these

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ladies, they are my r&r Sisters, I love them. And please go check

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out episode 36. You won't regret it for sure. Now, this one right

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here is one of my earlier episodes. This is when I

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probably had very few audience but a big fan of Kevin Munroe.

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Episode Five is Gratitude is the attitude. He is the gratitude

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guru. I go to his gratitude encounters once a month, he's

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got a gratitude community. And he uses the Mentimeter. And he

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actually surveys, everyone on zoom on how they're feeling

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about gratitude coming in, and how they're going out and you

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break off into breakout rooms. And we talk about empowerment

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and hope and how that positivity can really really change from

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moment to moment, but change your day. Change your

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trajectory, change your work life, change your relationships

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with your kids and your spouse and your friends. So and I wake

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up every morning and I actually say a ritual of gratitude. And I

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say that I am blessed. I am grateful and lucky. And I hope

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to be able to help many people today. And so what a great

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episode I think you're really going to enjoy that as well.

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Okay, the next episode little more serious. But Amanda

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Blackwood. I got introduced her it's episode 26. And it's human

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trafficking and trauma and survivorship. Oh my god, this

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woman has a story. It's unbelievable. And I asked her a

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question on the show in studio. I said, you know, I've never met

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someone that's been human traffic before. And she said to

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me, she said, you probably have you just didn't know it. And

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there was six different types of human trafficking and human

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trafficking. meaning that she suffered was servitude.

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She got into a very difficult marriage, and she was trapped.

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And she actually had to play a trick on this person and to get

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her freedom. It's such a captivating episode. And it also

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talks about other types of of trafficking as well. We've heard

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about traffic, tracking sex trafficking other ones as well.

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So episode 26 is a little more serious, but she's such a

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resilient woman, and a lot of respect for what she went

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through and what she conquered and what she overcame. And this

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is what the show is all about, is learning about that. So

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Alright, next episode that I wanted to feature episode 28. Oh

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my god. Linda. Oh, my God. She's absolutely incredible. She

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interviewed 20,000 people. And then it was like, I think a

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computer interview process, I hope because it would have taken

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her forever. And her episode and what it's why it's best to date,

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like a caveman is really, really important about relationships.

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And, you know, does the bad boy always win? Right? What's the

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you know? Can the geek get a date? It's just unbelievable.

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She's so experienced. She's a published author. She's a

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corporate trainer. She's a coach. And it's it was a great

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episode is unbelievable. of dating scene a little bit of a

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little bit more from the men's perspective. And so, go check

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out episode 28 why it's best date like a caveman. I think

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you'll, you'll really enjoy that as well. Well, here's here's

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someone that I'm truly inspired by Nim stat, go all in. This is

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a woman that moved here from Thailand with nothing,

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absolutely nothing. And she has built a very, very cool

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business. She is a book publisher. Also, she is a TEDx

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trainer. She's done a TEDx. She's actually published a whole

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bunch of books. And she runs the go all in fest a couple times a

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year, which are speaking about inspiration. And it's truly

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amazing. She has a Book Awards, which I won, shining brightly

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won the most inspirational book of the year. And I got an award

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and a beautiful trophy, and very proud for that. But also, she

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has her own TV show. And so I went and flew to Phoenix,

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Arizona, and she put it out on ABC TV 15 In Phoenix, and then

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we were able to broadcast it out. And I did a 30 minute show

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with her when my book came out what a great interview, she was,

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oh my god, she's like Oprah on the couch. It was incredible. I

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really enjoyed it. And she's a very passionate, smart

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businesswoman. And really, really incredible. So check out

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episode 23 called go all in only way to go. And I actually have,

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there's like four women in a row that are going to feature. This

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is right now in a row, and they happen to be Asian women. And

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this next one is episode 37 by Sheena Yep, Chan, direct from

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outside of Toronto, Canada. And she published a enormous book

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called The Tao of self confidence. And her stories of

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Asian women. And being able to and what they were brought up to

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and expected to do was not to be able to step out, not to be

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bold, not to actually use the courage and get out there and

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lead. And it's a really impressive book. I've read it. I

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interviewed on it. She's now signed on to do a book too. She

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has a great publisher, Wiley, and she speaks everywhere and

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coaches women about how to take charge of their lives and to be

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able to lead with confidence and incredible book incredible

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person. check out episode 37 chinny chin I think, great

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episode, great episode. Oh, my goodness, and then we actually

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have Sabrina runback episode 17 Now, this is one master

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connector. The expert connector is the name of the episode and

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she teaches you the four C's of networking and coaching. This is

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a former you know clinician in biology. She knows how to

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network like no other expert networker. She will teach you

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the four C's of connection, about making that quality

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connection and actually how to grow those connections and turn

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those into revenue. And great podcaster as well. Great

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speaker. Check out Sabrina run back in episode 17. You'll learn

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a lot, for sure. Oh, and then we have my friend and there's

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actually I'm showing a picture of ReadOn in studio. She's in

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Montreal, I think as well. So I guess we're in a Canadians. Were

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in the Canadians a little bit about there. But I'm wearing my

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shining brightly sunglasses. She's sharing some inspiration

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of the hummingbird. Now, the hummingbird was her sister that

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passed away, it gives her a lot of inspiration. She is

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absolutely a relationship expert. The episode 49 is what

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is true love. And she is very spiritual. Her energy is

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amazing. And she is able to consult with people about how to

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prepare for their first date and their 10th date and be able to

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navigate the dating scene and the relationship scene. And I

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have to tell you, I'm following a column of hers right now. This

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is actually, you know, shows you how people are authentic. You

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know, my guests are. She's actually publicly speaking about

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her breakup right now. And she's in heartbreak right now. And

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being able to tell people about that is really something that's

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incredible. So if you follow her on socials redawning, and on

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Facebook and on Instagram, I think she might even be a tick

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tock and also, of course, LinkedIn. So what is true love

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for dating advice? Great show. You I think you'll love it.

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Well, moving on. All righty. Well, this is a very special

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friend of mine. This is Jenny marks. And I call her Jenny hope

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monks.

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She runs a foundation and she's a cancer survivor. She's a TEDx

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speaker. She's a cancer coach. And she runs a foundation called

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all about hope. I mean, she's she's really an angel. She gives

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little kids hope the bear that have a speaking message in it.

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She able raises money for people, families that have kids

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with cancer that need help and financial assistance. And she

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runs a huge network out in the west coast, San Luis Obispo, and

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I met her early on in my cancer diagnosis. And she sent me a

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bear. So I'm gonna reach over for a second and show you guys

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hope the bear I didn't have them right with me now. Now we got

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back on camera. This is hope to buy you're done. I gotta change

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the battery. But she left me a beautiful message. And she is

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very special friend of mine. And you got to have hope. Hope is

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the fuel that gets us through those tough times. And so are

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you a hope maker? And she says, Are you a heartbreaker? Be a

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homemaker, be a good friend. But hope is very important. It's how

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I actually had survived cancer twice. And I set out those

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short, mid and long term goals. And it's it's just incredible.

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So check out Jenny marks. Are you a homemaker, homemaker,

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Episode 32. Oh, this is special. So moving on. Episode 22, my

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friend or REIT, Rambler. She's down in North Carolina,

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originally from Israel, and she is a life coach extraordinaire.

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Oh my god, she's so organised. She's actually been my coach.

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And she wrote a book called the box of life. Now, when you

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really think about things, you know, you only you don't even

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get 140 characters on your tombstone. If you analyse what

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your life is about, right, and how you lived your life, and she

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always says that you can actually keep track of that, you

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know, digitally, metaphorically or physically put items in a box

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that represent the most important parts of your life.

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They can be pictures, they can be art. I don't think you want

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to put in food because I think it'll mould but you're really

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talking about what your legacy is, and how you want to be

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remembered. What a great book. So great speaker, great coach.

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And you'll love the book, a box of life. So check it out episode

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22 and and think about your legacy, I think very, very

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important part of doing things as well. Okay, now here's from a

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little inspiration here. So Episode 52, Keith bow ring. This

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is recent. So but eight episodes ago, and I was introduced to key

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from John Rappaport a really good, my brother from another

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mother, friend, and Keith. He's incredible. So it took about 18

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months. And he got diagnosed with frontal temporal dementia

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FTD. And he is literally losing his mind. They don't know when

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but eventually he will not be able to speak. And he started

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stuttering and slurring a little bit. And it took a long time to

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get diagnosed. Actor Bruce Willis took three years to get

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diagnosed with this very rare disease. And he came on my

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podcast for the first time going public ever. It's a very

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powerful episode. There's a frontal temporal lobe dementia

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Foundation, and he's a big part of that. And he's getting the

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word out for the people because it's very difficult. And he in

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the episode he talked about actually, not knowing and then

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also not revealing it to people at work and all that. But his

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wife was noticing that he was being more forgetful, slurring

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his speech, stuttering and then finally went to the doctor, but

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it took a long time. Such an inspirational episode.

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Incredible man, just full of full of heart and energy in

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check it out, check out episode 52 losing my mind with Keith bow

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ring. All right, Episode 43. There is no why. So this one was

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one of my hardest episodes I ever did. Because Ashley, the

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mom and caregiver, and Michael, I think is age 19 At the time of

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his diagnosis of of cancer, blood cancer, and the Kramer's

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make this unbelievable couple and pair. And what it did was it

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took me back 34 years to my mom, Nancy Brown, and me and when I

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was diagnosed, but I was diagnosed at age 23. And the

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amount of love they have for each other and the world and

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helping others is incredible. Right now, I believe he's

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suffering from a little bit of graft versus host disease after

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transplant. And it's caused him a tonne of side effects. So he's

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taking meds and all that hopeful that's working out I got to

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check in with him. And what an incredible strength of a single

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mom with three kids. She lost her husband to cancer. So she's

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a widow, and just so much strength in this episode. And it

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just reminded me so much of me at age 23 with my mom taking me

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to every single appointment, every blood transfusion, every

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chemo appointment, even to the stepping stones support groups.

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I mean, we're joined at the hip and I saw them too. And so

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unbelievable episode, I think you'll really learn a lot about

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an incredible young man. Incredible mom and their

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relationship and it mirrors my mom and Nancy Brown. Shout out

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to you mom, and check out episode 43 with Ashley and

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Michael Kramer. There is no why. Oh, wow. Next episode 51 This

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was incredible. So oh my god. The bones are incredible. They

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did Carl is he's a madman. And Melissa they're incredible

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couple. She basically dragged his ass to the hospital. Okay,

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because he was having a grand mal seizure. And he's now live

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to tell about it. He has so much energy just pure power. So

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episode 51 Surviving purely out of spite. All my God he rip rip

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tater chip. It's all energy that is a you know from start to

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finish. Carl is incredible. She's incredible. They ended up

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you know, he had chemo he had surgeries. And he's alive to

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tell about it. And he gets in these ice baths. And it's

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actually shocks his body shocks his brain. And he's a miracle

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walkin just like me just like key. Just like Michael Kramer a

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lot of miracles in what I'm talking about in the podcast. So

Howard Brown: 00:25:02

just you got to tune into that one because it's incredible,

Howard Brown: 00:25:05

high octane episode. There's the there's the warning there

Howard Brown: 00:25:08

episode 51 Surviving purely out of spite. Wow, really cool.

Howard Brown: 00:25:15

You'll like that one. Okay, heading down the homestretch

Howard Brown: 00:25:19

here. I will tell you that I met this woman when I was going

Howard Brown: 00:25:27

through chemotherapy. Her name is Maggie cook one G. And you

Howard Brown: 00:25:31

can check her out at Maggie cook.com. Her story blew me

Howard Brown: 00:25:37

away. So, Episode 16. Your purpose is you. This is an

Howard Brown: 00:25:44

orphan from Mexico. I think she would take ketchup packets and

Howard Brown: 00:25:49

spices and call it salsa and make it for the kids in the

Howard Brown: 00:25:52

orphanage. At least that's my side of it. And as she grew

Howard Brown: 00:25:57

older, the older kids take care of the younger kids. And she was

Howard Brown: 00:25:59

really good at basketball. She's a point guard. That's why we

Howard Brown: 00:26:02

love each other. Because I'm a basketball point guard and she

Howard Brown: 00:26:05

loves hoops. I don't think she plays much anymore, but I do.

Howard Brown: 00:26:09

And she got a scholarship to East Carolina, played hoops and

Howard Brown: 00:26:12

graduated. And unfortunately, she didn't have family so she

Howard Brown: 00:26:15

became homeless. And I think she started making her little catch

Howard Brown: 00:26:19

ups in spice salsa for the homeless crew. This just tells

Howard Brown: 00:26:22

you the person she is she got someone who loaned her $800. And

Howard Brown: 00:26:28

she made salsa and started like a little bit of a catering

Howard Brown: 00:26:32

business. And she I think approached over 100 Folks, she

Howard Brown: 00:26:38

was kind of catering parties, and finally Whole Foods, took an

Howard Brown: 00:26:43

appointment with her and loved her salsa. And she went from

Howard Brown: 00:26:46

making a small amount to a lot of salsa. And as karma would

Howard Brown: 00:26:52

have it and hard work. Campbell's Soup Company bought

Howard Brown: 00:26:56

out. Maggie cook for a big dollar amount. And she's got

Howard Brown: 00:27:02

this incredible story. And she is a woman CEO, a minority CEO.

Howard Brown: 00:27:07

She went back and adopted these kids and save them from the

Howard Brown: 00:27:10

cartels in Mexico. How incredible is this? So she's an

Howard Brown: 00:27:15

author. She is a speaker. She runs a speaker mastery class. I

Howard Brown: 00:27:19

know a bunch of her students shout out to Rachel rose. And I

Howard Brown: 00:27:24

think very Kenzi as well. But incredible speaker came on my

Howard Brown: 00:27:30

show early on. And I want to be speaking with her because she

Howard Brown: 00:27:34

makes the big bucks. She's an incredible corporate trainer

Howard Brown: 00:27:39

speaks all over the place. And Her story's amazing. And she's

Howard Brown: 00:27:43

just a humble, amazing person. And I love Maggie cook and I

Howard Brown: 00:27:47

gotta bring her back for a second episode. Actually, I'm

Howard Brown: 00:27:49

that's what I'm gonna do I think so check out episode 16. Your

Howard Brown: 00:27:54

purpose is you and check out Maggie cook.com with one G and

Howard Brown: 00:27:58

learn with all the amazing things that she does. All right.

Howard Brown: 00:28:03

Well, this episode was one of my top episodes of the year. Now,

Howard Brown: 00:28:10

when you actually listen to this episode, it will be on January

Howard Brown: 00:28:16

3. So we'll be already into the new year. And I will have

Howard Brown: 00:28:20

crossed 50,000 downloads. I started in February of 2023. And

Howard Brown: 00:28:26

so the show is picking up huge steam, huge momentum. And this

Howard Brown: 00:28:30

episode has sort of just been the top Episode Episode 47. A

Howard Brown: 00:28:39

lot more. Absolutely incredible story. I met her at a networking

Howard Brown: 00:28:46

event online on Zoom. We were in the same breakout room. And I

Howard Brown: 00:28:50

found her story so compelling. I reached out to her. And I was

Howard Brown: 00:28:54

her first podcast episode ever, where she was going to share a

Howard Brown: 00:28:58

story I know she's writing a book. And the episode is called

Howard Brown: 00:29:02

incarceration to inspiration equal sign justice. All right,

Howard Brown: 00:29:09

the highlights of the story and we are wearing sunglasses on the

Howard Brown: 00:29:12

show in studio. And she shined brightly Oh my god. So she tells

Howard Brown: 00:29:17

a story of being a young impressionable fashion designer

Howard Brown: 00:29:22

in Canada, and she was asked to go to Panama. And while in

Howard Brown: 00:29:29

Panama, she was asked to take home a suitcase. Well, hopefully

Howard Brown: 00:29:32

you know where this is going. And she did it even though she

Howard Brown: 00:29:36

probably knew that it was the wrong decision. And she brought

Howard Brown: 00:29:40

to the airport, a suitcase as a drug mu and that suitcase ended

Howard Brown: 00:29:45

up having cocaine in it. And she didn't speak the language. But

Howard Brown: 00:29:53

she got busted at the Panama airport, coming back to Canada

Howard Brown: 00:29:58

and She spent 81 months in a Panamanian women's prison. Now

Howard Brown: 00:30:05

when she tells that she's getting off of a bus, you know,

Howard Brown: 00:30:07

with handcuffs, and women are in jeans and a pink T shirts and a

Howard Brown: 00:30:11

curlers in their hair out in the yard. And she, she went to

Howard Brown: 00:30:17

prison, and she speaks about life in prison. She thought

Howard Brown: 00:30:20

she's gonna get her butt kicked. She ended up becoming like a

Howard Brown: 00:30:25

fitness instructor, she learned the language, she was able to

Howard Brown: 00:30:28

give a very inspirational speech. That means she got off

Howard Brown: 00:30:32

campus off the off the prison yard and got to do that. I think

Howard Brown: 00:30:35

even our parents got to come down and see her. And after 81

Howard Brown: 00:30:40

months, she got parole, but she couldn't leave the country just

Howard Brown: 00:30:42

yet. And so she got placed with the founder of Burt's Bees,

Howard Brown: 00:30:49

chapstick type stuff, and or lip balm. She's not chapstick. And

Howard Brown: 00:30:54

she met a man. And she got pregnant. And then when her

Howard Brown: 00:30:59

parole came up, she got booted out of the country. And she

Howard Brown: 00:31:02

moved back to I believe Vancouver, British Columbia,

Howard Brown: 00:31:05

Canada. And she had a baby. And she named that baby justice. How

Howard Brown: 00:31:12

fitting right? And so baby justice must be three or four

Howard Brown: 00:31:15

years old now. And I know she's travelling in a little bit right

Howard Brown: 00:31:19

now. But really incredible story. Really incredible story

Howard Brown: 00:31:26

of Absolutely. Making a mistake paying for it and trying to turn

Howard Brown: 00:31:32

your life around and make something for her and justice.

Howard Brown: 00:31:36

And hopefully she'll see her fiance i believe or boyfriend

Howard Brown: 00:31:41

and someday soon, but incarceration to inspiration

Howard Brown: 00:31:45

equals justice. Awesome, my number one episode for downloads

Howard Brown: 00:31:50

of the year. And, and listens. And so I wish a lot more all the

Howard Brown: 00:31:55

best, check her out on Instagram, on Facebook or on

Howard Brown: 00:32:00

LinkedIn as well. And just a while just a while. So that's my

Howard Brown: 00:32:07

top episodes that I wanted to share with you. I'm gonna stop

Howard Brown: 00:32:10

sharing the screen now. Come back on camera and tell you what

Howard Brown: 00:32:15

it's a pleasure. I've really enjoyed having my own platform.

Howard Brown: 00:32:19

And my guests are not famous stars, although I think I'm

Howard Brown: 00:32:24

gonna attract some really cool people, celebrities and sports

Howard Brown: 00:32:30

stars and others. But these are everyday people that are telling

Howard Brown: 00:32:35

their story. And I'm sharing their and their story and them

Howard Brown: 00:32:40

with the world and my audience and really great life lessons,

Howard Brown: 00:32:44

amazing life lessons. And I want them to shine brightly and share

Howard Brown: 00:32:49

their light with you my listening and watching audience

Howard Brown: 00:32:53

as well. And so I'm going to put on my shining brightly glasses

Howard Brown: 00:32:57

right now for those that are listening. So I've got metallic

Howard Brown: 00:33:00

white glasses on and I am shining my light back to you.

Howard Brown: 00:33:03

And I want to tell you that I am so grateful for those that are

Howard Brown: 00:33:08

listened to me and are starting to listen to me continue to

Howard Brown: 00:33:11

listen to me every Wednesday starting at 4am Eastern time

Howard Brown: 00:33:14

whenever the new episodes popped. I've got some great ones

Howard Brown: 00:33:17

coming up. And so join me in 2024 to keep shining brightly.

Howard Brown: 00:33:25

Because if you shine brightly for yourself, for others, for

Howard Brown: 00:33:31

our communities, it makes the world a better place. keep

Howard Brown: 00:33:37

shining brightly. And thank you check out shining brightly.com

Howard Brown: 00:33:42

Come check out my speaking and the paid speaking gigs, lots

Howard Brown: 00:33:46

more of their podcasts. Also my book selling really well my

Howard Brown: 00:33:50

memoir shining brightly. And also this podcast can be found

Howard Brown: 00:33:55

there every week on a feed and also my advocacy, my advocacy

Howard Brown: 00:34:00

for entrepreneurship. My advocacy for mentorship is

Howard Brown: 00:34:04

leadership and my service work in the cancer world. Also the

Howard Brown: 00:34:09

interfaith world. So from me to you go make the world a better

Howard Brown: 00:34:16

place. We all get knocked down in life. But it's our job to get

Howard Brown: 00:34:23

back up again and again. Shine brightly, always