Shows
Competency No. 5The Harvard Mum Project. Chapter 3: The Graduation and Send-Off PartyThe Harvard Mum essay project is my documentary essay series on immigrant motherhood, immigrant dreams, leadership, and all the deep lessons on staying calm and present as my oldest son joins the Harvard University class of 2029 this fall. He’s one of 3% of applicants to gain admittance and only one of a few Wisconsinites to do so.My Chapter 2 essay, the high school graduation, revealed the vast numbers: 3.9 million high school graduates graduated from high school as the Class of 2025. Most American families celebrate in some way their teen’s achievement — and resources pending, with m...2025-08-0128 minCompetency No. 5The Harvard Mum Project. Chapter 2: High School Graduation Brings Harvard CloserThis month, the U.S. reaches historic milestones in some lovely and not so lovely ways. In my world, June 2025 brings joy and hope to 3.9 million high school graduates. Class of 2025 becomes the largest and most diverse class in history, experts say, and with historically high competition for college placement, too. My son, Nicholas, and his friends joined those millions this past Sunday at Muskego High School here in Wisconsin.What the media skips over is the deep emotions and new perspectives graduation brings for students and parents, especially those emerging from more egalitarian cultures like New...2025-06-2116 minCompetency No. 5Why You Won’t Hear from me Mid-Build“The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.” Albert Einstein, our beloved German-born physicist and mathematician, owns the delightful quote. And I find it especially timely when I’m mid-build of something big, new, risky, but beautiful. I find when I’m imagining what’s truly possible, I love to collaborate with my inner circle (new and old). I also love to isolate. This feels intelligent (or at least sensible) to me. Imagining is where the magic is. We can always curtail our hopes once we see how things land.Once the build begins and...2025-06-0715 minCompetency No. 5The Harvard Mum. Chapter 1: Staying present in the last home seasonHarvard University received 53,700 applications for this incoming class of 2029. Of those, 1,950 were admitted, a 3.63% acceptance rate. My oldest of two sons, Nicholas McCullough, is one of them. He’ll play defensive tackle for the Harvard University football team, who recruited him, and he’ll study economics.As mother’s day weekend approaches, my last with him under our roof, I’m feeling what any Harvard parent might feel: Pride. Euphoria. Excitement. Awe. The deeper feelings, impending heartbreak of him moving away from our Wisconsin base to Boston, I’m processing—and managing, in part through honoring Comp...2025-05-1514 min
The Sage SayersStaying present within the long goodbye. The Harvard Mum. The last home seasonHarvard University received 53,700 applications for this incoming class of 2029. Of those, 1,950 were admitted, a 3.63% acceptance rate. My oldest of two sons, Nicholas McCullough, is one of them. He’ll play defensive tackle for the Harvard University football team, who recruited him, and he’ll study economics.As mother’s day weekend approaches, my last with him under our roof, I’m feeling what any Harvard parent might feel: Pride. Euphoria. Excitement. Awe. The deeper feelings, impending heartbreak of him moving away from our Wisconsin base to Boston, I’m processing—and managing, in part through honoring Comp...2025-05-1014 minThe Sage SayersAsk like a boss. Mastering the art of asking powerful questionsListening well goes beyond silent, bobbing heads and affirming mm-hmm's. If we really want to listen deeply, we must ask powerful questions that invoke and invite reflection, eureka moments, and pause. We've not an exhaustive list here; but in this week's episode I'm offering up my top ten tips to asking questions that help create space, inspire new takes on things, and drive powerful outcomes and deals.Your show host, D G McCullough is a former reporter for the Guardian, the Economist, and the FT of London. She runs Hanging Rock Coaching and serves as a communications...2025-03-2211 minThe Sage SayersWhy (and how) I interrupt others lessInterrupting others before they’re done with their conversation turn brands us poorly in most situations. Coaching has shown me just how much I interrupt and for surprising reasons that bring pink to my cheeks. Sometimes it’s arrogance, thinking I’ve a better or grander idea. Sometimes it’s sloppy coaching and a poor habit I’ve cultivated from being super creative with too many ideas. Other times it’s excitement, a genuine want to share and contribute to the cause. In this week’s podcast, reading from my essay on Medium, I’m sharing the five m...2025-03-0812 minThe Sage SayersWhy and how do I podcast? Musings from Coaches Anita Rodriguez, DG McCullough, and Dotun AyeniMany of us listen to eight podcasts a week and three to four million podcasts exist globally (depending on how you define them). I host two bi-weekly podcasts: the Sage Sayers and Competency No 5. Both bring me joy, help me keep my ad hoc presentation skills fresh, and allow me to interview really interesting people—giving them the spotlight. In this interview with Coach Anita Rodriguez, I field her questions on the process of podcasting now she’s prepping to launch her own. We also hear from my dear friend and my sound producer, Dotun Ayeni, who prod...2024-11-3037 minCompetency No. 5One day at a time. Nick McCullough on retirement, Mississippi, and his landAbout 900,000 Americans retired in the first five months of 2024, part of a “silver tsunami” of those reaching retirement age. My father-in-law Nick McCullough is one who retired a few years back, and in beautiful ways returning to the land just outside of Ruth Mississippi where he grew up. The cotton farm of his youth is now his retirement land where he lives with his Cajun wife, Crystall, my American Mum. After years of running his own auto repair workshop outside of New Orleans, Louisiana, he’s done with work, for now. In our touching interview, Nick (who’s hard o...2024-10-1216 minThe Sage SayersIntroduce ourselves in less ho-hum ways. Reporting tools to the rescueProfessionals all over wonder how to introduce themselves, especially to new bosses, teams, or a recruiter — even to new friends. Introductions (done well) become conversation starters, build connections, even elevate our personal brand. But how do we talk about our work — and life — in ways that stand out and align with our personality and values? And what are the bigger blockers getting in our way. I’m D G McCullough, and in this podcast, I hope to find some answers.Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, group coaching, and training via my w...2024-08-0911 minCompetency No. 5"I'm Puerto Rican. I celebrate everything." Anita Rodriguez Cordero on celebrating as we coachWith so much mayhem, worry, and turmoil, more clients struggle to find much to celebrate or to declare a true win. But coaches like my show guest this week, Coach Anita Rodriguez Cordero, set that intention each session to ask her coachees what they want to celebrate. Coach Anita takes this intention far beyond the International Coaching Federation's want for facilitating client growth (competency number eight) and evoking awareness (competency number seven). For her, it ties as much to being Puerto Rican (she tells us) a culture celebrating everything, even the dead. It's also a delightful way (o...2024-07-2028 minCompetency No. 5Why I’ve returned to journaling (and hope to never let it go again)I’m recently back to journaling most days after a good nine-month hiatus. I’ve missed it so much. For me, journaling feels like emptying my bucket of all that’s within. As I get older, I’ve noticed its importance for my mental and physical health. My journal’s a forum for not explaining things, unless I want to and a place to unlock enormous ideas within.And I’m not the only one. The data tells us 74% of Americans find “emotional venting” via journaling improves their mental health. 65% found journaling reduces their anxiety. I agree with both data p...2024-07-0412 minCompetency No. 5“Maintaining presence starts with checking in on myself” Live Coaching & Musings with Coach Sophia CaseyMy guest this week is my friend and MCC mentor coach Sophia Casey who trains coaches like me to strive to become our very best version of ourselves and with that, our most present. We chat about all the barriers getting in our way, including wanting to perform, or solve, even direct our coachees towards profound epiphanies and results. (None of which makes us very present at all.)Coach Sophia, whose MCC and runs a fabulous coaching training business by the way, also humors her mentee by coaching me using a three-word question technique. Very powerful results...2024-06-2245 minThe Sage Sayers“Football has built me into a leader.” Defensive Lineman Nicholas McCullough on getting into HarvardWith some bias perhaps, I think Muskego Highschool’s varsity footballer here in Wisconsin, Nicholas McCullough’s, an impressive teen. He’s the youngest captain in the Muskego Warrior’s team history. He coaches and mentors younger kids on leadership, and is ranked best in his state for his age and position. The bias comes from him being my son and I’ve brought him to the Sage Sayers this week because he’s pulled off something big we can learn from as business communicators: an invitation (to which he committed) to play football for Harvard University and to study...2024-06-1416 minCompetency No. 5What high school freshmen can teach us about not stressing outGuess who my podcast guest is this week? It's Jackson James McCullough, my 14-year-old son who I consider a hugely calming influence on me and my life. (I've long wanted to interview this wise young man and he finally said 'yes.' )Join us on our adhoc interview and woodland walk in our leafy state of Wisconsin, just days after Jackson finished his first year at high school. You'll hear his insights on how to try not to overload, to rest when we're done, to block off time for our bigger tasks, and to make time for...2024-06-0714 minCompetency No. 5“Nature’s the one thing that brings us together” Jacqueline Crivello on birding, nature, and truthI’m one of millions of people globally who not only love bird watching, I love to do so from my garden. What a treat to interview Jacqueline Crivello, an award winning photographer, author, bird feeding store owner, a birder, entrepreneur and even an inventor of a bird feeder for hummingbirds. (The latter comes inspired from her very first bird feeder she created as a girl in the forest behind her Wisconsin home. She used a baby food jar and nail polish to attract them.) In our interview, we’re both surprising crisp and sharp given we both...2024-05-2521 minCompetency No. 5How do I train to become a coach? One coach’s journeyMore coachees are asking me each week how to become an International Coaching Federation (ICF) certified coach and how I became a coach, specifically the decisions before me and the training itself. (I’m delighted they ask, because coaching’s a truly delightful field.) I’ve found a fantastic home in this new industry, now coaching full-time for an audience I adore and relate well to. (Most of my clients are foreign-born leaders or managers on their way to the top.) I’m training coaches and corporate leaders on active listening, because they realize they must listen well to g...2024-05-1016 minCompetency No. 5The challenges and joy of certifying as an ICF coach. Two coaches’ musingsCertifying with the International Coaching Federation, the world’s largest nonprofit for professional coaches, challenges many coaches because it’s no easy feat. We must speak only 10% of the time, drive clarity, insights, and accountability too. Submitting a recorded coaching call to ICF evaluators for review often erodes our presence with our coachee, who we care about the most, even over the exam itself. With the calm wisdom of Coach Sathyanarayanan Sethuraman, my friend and peer coach, we unpack and troubleshoot these problems as we pursue our ICF goals. (Sathya’s certifying at the PCC level and I’m pur...2024-04-2630 minThe Sage SayersWhy Cold Calls Nor Outreach Bother Me (Some Reporter Tips)Many of us dread cold calling and following up with folks, especially when we want or need something from them. Why? Because we can feel (in these delicate moments) that we’re a bother or demanding or even desperate, when none of the above’s normally true. I’m convinced that our Inner Judge plays a role. Our critical inner voice wants to protect us overall from humiliation, rejection, or loss of reputation to our integrity or personal brand. And yet, if we really need someone to do something for us or seek clarity from our audience, then t...2023-11-3014 minThe Sage Sayers“Diwali Connects Us with Our Culture and Celebrates Life” Madhu Chawla on the Gifts of DiwaliDiwali, an annual Hindu festival of lights, celebrates Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity, and marks the beginning of the fiscal year in India. For the 17.9 million Indians living overseas, many still celebrate Diwali this month in the countries where they’re based. Madhu Chawla, an Arizona-based Senior Manager at American Express, says Diwali becomes a piece of something you own and hold dear to your heart. And Diwali’s even more powerful when celebrated outside of India because of the deep connection with joy, their culture, and tender memories from the past. Madhu returns to our show a...2023-11-1717 minCompetency No. 5Using Candor and Presence to Speak and Challenge the TruthWe have my dear friend and peer coach Sathya Sethuraman back with us this week to discuss with me a curious dynamic that comes up for coaches when maintaining presence: The occasional but powerful need for radical candor. In this context we mean challenging our coachee on the words they lay down and asking open-ended, short, but powerful questions to challenge inconsistencies we notice and hear or get to the root of the feelings behind what they lay down. Clients typically want and expect this kind of candor from their coach; and yet many coaches struggle, especially w...2023-11-1030 minThe Sage SayersThe Gifts and Opportunities of Fertility Treatments. One Woman’s StoryMy guest today wants to share her story (anonymously for her privacy) of two fertility treatments she has undertaken (the second still in progress) and the gifts, the learning, and the opportunities she has found along the way. Her motivation: Wanting to plan ahead to ensure she can have a family, when she’s ready. And she’s part of a larger and growing trend. World over more women are having fertility treatments through egg retrieval and freezing. The Pew Research Center’s new September survey found 4:10 adults, around 42% of Americans say they’ve used fertility treatments or know s...2023-11-0322 minCompetency No. 5Celebrating 5,250 Individual Coaching Hours: Lessons and TacticsThis week, I’ve reached 5,250 individual coaching hours, which more than doubles the 2,500 individual hours the International Coaching Federation asks for coaches certifying as a Master Certified Coach. MCC certified coaches make up only 4% of global ICF coaches, because of all the other lengthy requirements they ask for, and because it’s so hard and expensive. MCC became my game plan when I fell in love with coaching, four years ago, and remains my plan today. Certifying as an MCC coach became my new PhD ambition. I pulled from a lot of skills, including entrepreneurialism, creat...2023-10-2712 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: How (and When) to Explain Blips in Our Work Story?If you're job interviewing, you may feel a bit nervous about the inevitable blips which come up in our work story, especially during turbulent times. I've beaucoup ideas and tactics in this week's podcast episode and in my article on Medium on how to iron out those kinks in confident, non-apologetic ways and in ways which help our personal brand. A lot of lovely requests for help on this topic from peers and my coachees inspired this week's musings. I'm drawing from my own career transitions when no narrative seemed to thread the changes together (and how...2023-10-1911 minCompetency No. 5Riptide Adventures. A Tale of Trust and PresenceAnyone who knows me well knows that Lake Michigan, the world’s fifth largest lake, is my happy place here in Wisconsin bringing me calm, clarity, gratitude, and creativity. One visit can bring powerful shifts in perspective and unlocks big ideas. A recent trip to a new access lake point, Two Rivers, brought an unexpected adventure: Getting caught in a riptide. My way back to shore became a lesson and reminder on accepting, trusting, and staying present in dramatic and fearful situations.. Reach out to me, D G McCullough (now safely back ashore) for insights on my gr...2023-10-1313 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: Building Confidence With Your Voice. An Interview with Isaac Te ReinaNew Zealander Isaac Te Reina, a documentary and film producer and actor who has featured in Avatar returns to the Sage Sayers this week. Together we share tools and techniques for managing the vocal quirks coming up for many of us when under pressure: Verbal filler, speeding, and going on a bit because we struggle to bottom line. It all starts with finding calm and building confidence. You can hear Isaac and my earlier interview, soon after he featured in Avatar and hear some great insights on staying calm in high-stakes moments—and with high-stakes audiences like Da...2023-10-0621 minCompetency No. 5Taming Our “Monkey Brain” When We Coach. An interview with Coach Sathya SethuramanMy guest this week is Sathya Sethuraman, a financial Services and insurance industry strategist and thought leader who's served for 20+ years as a trusted advisor to Fortune 100 global insurance and financial service firms. Sathya’ s also my friend and a coach. Sathya’ s realizing, as he applies to certify in more advanced ways with the International Coaching Federation, that taming our active mind (our Monkey Brain) becomes pivotal to this process. You’ll hear laughter, connection, and musings as two coaches work together to figure out how indeed do we ground and stay present for our clients, and for...2023-09-2924 minThe Sage SayersI Inherited (and Must Present From) Dire Slides. Now What?Business presenters often inherit slides from another. While some slides feel fantastic and a gift, others can induce dread, worry, and concerns with how to stay engaging vs. boring our audience and diluting or confusing our personal brand. The biggest stressor often comes when the slides belong to a boss, manager, or someone else with power over us. In which case, how do we go ahead with the presentation without offending anyone or falling back? That’s the communication conundrum I wrote on via Medium this week and read via this week's Sage Sayers podcast episode. Go for...2023-09-2109 minCompetency No. 5“I Know that “”He”” is the Biggest Boss to Impress.” Jevon Koh on Finding Calm through Faith and TravelMany of us struggle with fear and uncertainty—the very opposite of presence—when speaking with powerful people. It’s 100% normal; and more pronounced in these intense times. And yet leaders like Jevon Koh, a business development and global digital partnerships director for a giant financial services firm, find that his Christian faith, his easy-going nature, and living abroad give him a vital and calming perspective in high-stakes situations he might otherwise lack. I loved Jevon and my exchange on travels, outlook, and faith. This interview reminded me that whether we have religious conviction or not, belief that s...2023-09-1423 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: How Faith, Courage, and Art Boosts Our Public Speaking. An Interview with Kamari GreenMy guest this week is Kamari Green, a Healthcare Leader + Maternal Mental Health Advocate + Artist, based in North Carolina, USA. Kamari's an interesting story to tell on overcoming and navigating her own health challenges (postpartum depression and depression) in ways which established her career as a healthcare leader. Art, medicine, love, and faith all played a role. Today, Kamari's growing not only as an artist, healthcare leader, but also a keynote speaker where she speaks on mental health topics to audiences in the thousands. You can follow Kamari on LinkedIn here and see (or purchase) her beautiful...2023-09-0826 minCompetency No. 5How Laughing At Work Can Bring Joy and Presence. An Interview with Amy AzumaUC Berkeley educator and program director Amy Azuma's long used humor to shift intense moods and energy. In her adult years, she's shifted from using humor as oppositional defiance to a tool for finding and creating presence, with herself and with others. In a delightful interview, Azuma shares how finding the funny in the serious can bring feelings of joy, relief, and become an excellent personal branding tool. Her 20-year career in education advising, teaching, and directing programs, mostly at UC Berkeley has become a perfect Petri dish for comedy, too. You can find Amy...2023-08-3130 minCompetency No. 5How I Center and Reset When Coaching At ScaleWith Gallup reporting most U.S. workers find 50-hour work weeks normal, no wonder many of us struggle maintaining presence as we work. If our typical flow becomes back-to-back meetings, presence (which I'm defining here as peace, calm, and present with ourselves and others) can feel impossible. As my coaching practice has grown, I've challenged how I relate to time because my job requires (at it's core skill) being present. In this week's episode, I share three small experiments which still help me stay present even when coaching abundantly (often 10 sessions in the one day.)N...2023-08-1808 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: Communication and Leadership Gifts from Indian Leaders. An Interview with Sathya SethuramanMy guest this week is Sathya Sethuraman, a financial Services and insurance industry strategist and thought leader who's served as a trusted advisor to Fortune 100 global insurance and financial service firms. He finds that insurance provides a safety net for the health and wellbeing of every individual, hence making this industry his home for 20+ years. In our interview, Sathya shares the gifts and opportunities he's found with communicating in a land far away from his motherland of India, home to the world’s largest diaspora. We hear how he's navigated U.S. business culture, one placing a prem...2023-08-1029 minCompetency No. 5“Silence Creates Space For You to Notice Things.” Musings from a Pilgrim and Executive, Helio FujitaSilence creates space for us to feel, meditate, connect with ourselves, and to think. So says Helio Fujita, an HR executive from Brazil who took a Buddhist pilgrimage over the spring to punctuate a 19-year-long, highly successful corporate career. There he found he could further grieve the loss of his father and gain clarity on what's next. Our interview describes the wisdom, insights, and the clarity Helio gained on his pilgrimage. We learn of ways he continued the peace and calm he gathered along the way, even when life (and work) gets busy. Leadership lessons come from t...2023-08-0455 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: Leadership Lessons From Our Youth. An Interview with James WoodruffJames Woodruff, District Field Manager at the Federal Aviation Administration, has learned leadership skills so many places: The FAA where he’s served many years. The Navy. And as a high school teacher. And yet his best leadership lessons (he believes) came from a job he landed as a teenager managing the bussers and servers at a thriving country club in his Kansas rural community. Hollywood stars and musicians of the day came there to dance and dine. In our interview, we hear from James, who’s entering into a leadership training role with the FAA, how clear...2023-07-2724 minCompetency No. 5Intervention through Presence. An Interview with Coach Whitney SternMy guest today is Coach Whitney Stern. She's a certifying executive coach based in Seattle, Wa., a business leader, and a yoga mindfulness instructor with a big purpose: To empower others to lead, communicate, and build strong teams with kindness, confidence, and empathy. As a certifying coach, Coach Whitney's undergone a learning curve with presence, active listening, and communicating quite different to the corporate world where she's functioned for over a decade. At Google, she leads one of the largest global advertising & sales accounts. Our interview unpacks all we can learn about active listening, trusting, and pausing, al...2023-07-2126 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: The Gifts of Cultural Differences. An Interview with Fernanda Noronha.My guest this week is Fernanda Noronha, a multi-cultural finance and strategy leader who's worked with international conglomerates across three countries and two continents for almost two decades. Currently, she helps lead finance at Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), a Fortune number 38 leader in the nutrition industry. In our interview, we learn about Fernanda's journey from Brazil to Great Chicago, Illinois. We learn how she stayed agile and adaptable in new settings, roles, and cultures, even now speaking to large crowds and mentoring others to feel more comfortable. She found gifts through cultural challenges--like Americans' love for feedback...2023-07-1126 minCompetency No. 5Why Competency No. 5?Every new podcast needs some small clarifying words on what brings us here in the first place. In our introductory episode, learn what inspired Competency No. 5, guests we'll interview, what we'll learn, and why maintaining presence, when we coach, lead, and live our lives has never felt so vital. An essay on this very topic lives here via Medium, a channel I populate frequently. You can join the conversation on Competency No. 5 via LinkedIn. Book me, D G (Debbi Gardiner) McCullough, by visiting my website and clicking on the Calendly link. If you enjoy this podcast, do...2023-07-0706 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: Meet Dotun Ayeni, our Sound Engineer. Tips on Reinvention, Interviews, and Resilience.My guest this week is one familiar to me and one I’m excited to introduce to you. His name is Dotun Ayeni. He’s an animal scientist by profession, a sound engineer by passion and works as a business development manager in an Australian lift Manufacturing company in Nigeria, his motherland. Dotun’s also my sound engineer. I’ve brought Dotun to my show this week because he’s an expert on the spoken word and he’s also part of a larger trend of holding two jobs (or several jobs) vs. one. Like many of my listeners...2023-05-2622 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: How Do We Not Let a Stutter Define Our Life Nor Our Career?My guest this week is Madhu Chawla. She's a manager of global implementation in global commercial services at American Express and is based out of Phoenix, Az. Madhu's an interesting story to tell about a communication challenge which, for some part of her life, got in her way of confidence and being the thriving professional she always wanted to be. Madhu developed a stutter as a girl which continued through her school and college years and then into her corporate life. But Madhu never let her stutter, which became more pronounced with strangers and external clients, define...2023-05-0821 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: Adding Story and Narrative to NumbersIf leaders have prodded you to add story to otherwise dry and stodgy data and topics, you’re not alone! Many communicators I coach hear this feedback when doing dry-runs on high-stakes presentations and within performance reviews, too. But how do we tell story around numbers? This becomes our theme for this week’s Medium post, which you can find here, and which I read and add to in this week's Sage Sayers podcast. We have tackled data and storytelling in the past with a delightful interview with Godswill Mhlanga, a finance expert who must make the numb...2023-04-2008 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: Finding Our Purpose at Work. Perspectives From a Uruguay EA and CoachMy guest this week is Yasna Garcia da Rosa, an executive assistant and ICF-certified coach based in Uruguay who simply loves her job. This feeling becomes rare in today's turbulent economy where many feel despair vs. joy. Yasna works for a leading pharmaceutical firm and through a recent work trip to Africa felt reminded of her purpose, her passion, and her love for what she does. One of my favorite parts of the interview, which we conducted last month, is Yasna's joy when learning her company chose her to become the ambassador for Uruguay for the program...2023-04-0826 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: How and Why to Tame This Uptick in Speaking With Fear.If you're finding you're more anxious than normal speaking in meetings and/or presenting to higher ups, you're not alone. Communicators all over feel the same and we know why: Many of us have fewer opportunities with our leaders than before; with that, more pressure to be brief, clear, and feel heard. Also, those same leaders we must update or persuade must decide (in many cases) who to let go and who can stay, and that feeling can feel fearful indeed. I don't have all the answers; but I do have insights. In this week's episode (very l...2023-03-2313 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: How Do We Share Our Successes While Honoring Cultural Humility? We Ask Bhawna Sharma PuriMy guest this week, Bhawna Sharma Puri, is a successful Fintech industry marketing leader and a council board member of California State university. She's also a first generation immigrant, a Silicon Valley philanthropist, an investor, and a Mum to two wonderful little children. I've brought Bhawna to the Sage Sayers to unpack how to share our accomplishments in non-bragging, comfortable ways. This communication challenge feels tricky for those who've emerged from nations which value humility and now function as professionals elsewhere. As two women who came to the U.S. to pursue our dreams (Bhawna from India a...2023-03-0224 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: Chicago Sun-Time's Jennifer Kho: ‘I'm Easily Inspired When It Comes To Storytelling’My returning guest this week is Jenn Kho. She's the newly appointed Chicago Sun-Times executive editor, president of the Journalism and Women Symposium, and former managing editor of two global publications with millions of readers: the HuffPost and the Guardian US. This week, Jenn's back to share what she's learning about herself and her industry through her latest career pivot from consultant to executive editor of one of America's largest daily papers. And she's helping me respond to many requests from the field on how business communicators can learn to think, write, and speak more like a j...2023-02-1127 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: Cultural Reasons We Don’t Take Time Off From WorkMy guest this week is Marie-Louise Pereira, a leadership and mental wellness coach based in France. Marie-Louise helps leaders replace stuck, unhappy feelings with a confidence that helps them achieve their dreams, find better balance, and with that, a more fulfilling career. Marie-Louise and I spoke in the New Year on a problem many of our clients shared: Switching off from work, especially on mandated work break, and then challenging whatever inner critical, old, and fixed cultural mindsets get in our way of relating well with our work. Though we recorded our interview late December, with global...2023-01-2427 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: Meet Avatar's Sea Dragon First Mate, Isaac Te Reina. Finding Presence and Play Through Acting.James Cameron's Avatar: the Way of Water is breaking box office records all over the world. The sci-fi epic just overtook Top Gun Maverick to become 2022's highest grossing international release and sailed past the $1.1 billion mark. Within this phenomena sits Isaac Te Reina, a filmmaker, actor, and writer from New Zealand who stars as the Sea Dragon First Mate in this Avatar epic. Isaac joined me on the Sage Sayers over the festive break to talk about his soaring filming career and all the gifts, opportunities, and knowledge he's gathered from landing a role within Avatar...2023-01-1134 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: How Do We Not Let Personal Tragedy Make Us Bitter?My guest this week is Wisconsin-based executive coach Deb Skarda whose brother Rick was murdered on Father’s Day here in the states. In Deb’s own words: “He was unjustly taken by the hand of another.” Deb’s convinced that her life destiny now must make sense of this tragedy. Her touching post on LinkedIn and other social media asks her audiences to live by her Rick rules, all aligned with this idea of cherishing time with each other over work, money, and not taking the simple things (nor each other) for granted. Hundreds have replied—and many execu...2022-12-2721 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: The Gifts and Knowledge Gained From Coaching at ScaleThree or so years ago I entered coaching school to train to become an International Coaching Federation certified coach. This move felt slightly bizarre given I’d never received coaching before nor knew much about the industry. But I had a hunch that my work as a professor of communications and journalism, as a reporter, and as a publicist might blend nicely with coaching, especially if I made communications coaching a niche. In last week’s Medium post, which I read in this week’s podcast, I’m sharing a big milestone. On the day I wrote this piec...2022-12-1308 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: Find Love Vs. Fear Playing on LinkedInMost of us waste a sad amount of time worrying about what others think of us when we post to LinkedIn, the social media platform for professionals with 875 million members worldwide. So, how might we have fun and love playing on LinkedIn vs worry about torpedoing our careers? In this week’s Sage Sayers episode I’m sharing tips and techniques I’ve cultivated in this global social media space—and with surprising results. Almost all of my business has come from LinkedIn; and now I’m at capacity (almost) with 90 coaching clients. (LinkedIn and how I play on Lin...2022-11-2813 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: Make Time For Daily BlissI’m no expert on work-life balance; but I have found that applying the mental fitness tool of innovation, specifically to how I manage my time, has yielded blissful and surprising results. By innovating the flow of my day, i.e. the order in which I go about things, I’ve found more space for art, my writing, exercise—and with that, less stress. (I’ve even improved my blood pressure.) In this week’s Sage Sayers podcast episode, recording on a rainy Friday, I’m sharing this idea of staying creative to add in more things we love and b...2022-11-0511 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: The Gifts From Varsity FootballAround 1.9 million high school players play highschool football in the U.S. Along with thousands of other Wisconsinites, I’m a proud supporter of the Muskego Warriors varsity football team, Wisconsin’s former state champion for three consecutive years. With only one loss so far this season, we’ve a reasonable chance to reclaim that throne. This week’s Sage Sayers podcast shares a personal story on how football—of all things—has brought me and my family gifts, opportunities, while also teaching and reminding me of the power of a community rallied together. You can check out my TikTok...2022-10-2116 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: Musings on the Passing of a Monarch. A New Zealander Reflects.When England laid their dear queen to rest, they laid to rest a monarch who provided a staple, consistent leadership in my life as a citizen of New Zealand, one of the 54 countries within the coalition of the British commonwealth. This week’s episode shares my memories of my queen—from my young girlhood in rural South Canterbury through to my teens and early 20s before leaving overseas. Also, leadership lessons we can all learn from Queen Elizabeth II in presence, remote leadership, and in communications. You can find the article: Musings on the Passing of a Mona...2022-09-3016 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: Enjoy vs. Endure the Job Interview.With the Gallup’s annual State of the Workplace report recording record numbers of disengaged, worried, miserable--even angry employees, no wonder many seek new jobs. But the job interview process can derail the best and the brightest, especially those vague, leading, and often loaded interview questions. In this week's episode, we unpack some of the top interview questions, apply some journalistic and mental fitness tools, and create some strategy so you sail through and land the job of your dreams. Connect with me, Coach Debbi McCullough, about your group's communication challenges via my LinkedIn profile and website. I'm...2022-09-1311 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: How Do We Convert Our Love for Writing and Learning to a Profitable Blog?My guest this week is Caroline Lindsey who, after years working in advertising and media work, took her passion of cooking, blogging, and food to a whole new level by creating a successful blog, ultimately earning enough to leave her day job. In our interview, Caroline, who’s based in South Carolina, shares what inspired Pinch Me, I’m Eating, how she generated enough readers and traffic to make close to her full-time job’s income, and the life she’s created for herself and her family along the way. Please visit Caroline’s site, Pinch Me I’m Eating...2022-08-2630 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: Exploring Our Beautiful Minds. An Adult's Discovery of ADHDMy guest this week is Ambra who (around six months ago, in her early 30s) entered a courageous quest to confirm what she'd long suspected: She has ADHD. In this touching interview, Ambra, an operation manager and journalist based in Germany, shares her story with navigating a complex system, receiving her diagnosis, and dealing with all of the negative and positive emotions coming up along the way. Ambra also shares the Sage perspective by seeing and finding gifts, opportunities, and knowledge from her challenges. Already, she's becoming an advocate for women and girls with ADHD who often...2022-08-1326 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: The Resurgence of the Written Word. Musings on Becoming a Better Writer.Over the past five years I've asked at least 3,000 business professionals what worries them the most about their careers. At least half report feeling that ineffective business writing's one of the biggest struggles they face. Now, the importance of the written word's resurging as hybrid and remote work demands super clear reporting and documenting of things to reduce ambiguity and error. But how do we become a better writer? I offer some tactical tips in this week's Medium post on tools to stay compelling and brief. You can also find a few articles here. But in the m...2022-08-0611 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: How Do We Seem Cool (and Confident) When We Lack the Answers?Fielding Q&As from prospective clients, CEOS, or investors induces fear and stomach pain in the most confident presenters. For those working to build their courage, the fear of the unknown in these moments can paralyze. But in this week's podcast, we're offering phrases, come backs, and even tweaks to your mindset to help sail through that moment with ease. We also tackle this week on Medium, three of the more popular myths on Q&As which can induce panic after we pitch or present our ideas. So, take a read and for anyone needing this vital he...2022-07-1515 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: Can We Learn Music (and Other Crafts) As Adults? How Do We Embrace Mistakes Along the Way?My guest this week is Canadian technologist and adult musician, Sam Chow, who taught himself jazz piano, at aged 33, for the joy—and to show himself: It’s never too late to learn. In our interview, we hear how COVID-19 inspired Chow along with the empowering metaphors that come from learning something as nuanced and tricky as jazz piano. Chow’s found he’s more nimble and less self critical. He knows: Any mistakes we sense our audience rarely notices—something powerful we can all learn from as communicators. Follow Sam Chow’s You Tube channel, Mid...2022-06-2213 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: Fuss Less. Act More. Managing Our Perfectionism.My inner circle knows that my dominant Saboteur — my leader of my inner critics, after the Judge — is the Stickler, who takes order, organization, and perfectionism way too far. While I view the strength of this saboteur as quality, until recently, holding out for flawless action has sabotaged any true career growth. (You can learn about your own saboteurs here.)In this week's highly-flawed podcast (due partly to audio issues I self-created by recording at Lake Michigan) I'm offering five techniques I use to override fear and self-doubt. I'm drawing upon skills I gathered as a bus...2022-06-1413 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: Fix Your Attrition Problem. Write (and Speak) With a Kind Tone.Most of us want to sound warm but strident, clear on what we want and need, but open to feedback. And yet our writing can give off a cooler, sometimes lofty feeling which can offset our audience. In this podcast, at a time when most company leaders fret about attrition, we explore the delicate art of tone in business writing. (While the tips here tie to writing, many work in business speaking, too.) Here’s my small but potentially powerful idea: While we have no control over our team's ambitions and wants to leave and move on, we d...2022-06-0409 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: How Do We Improve Our Vocabulary and Way with Words?In this week's episode we respond to popular asks for help with building our vocabulary in ways where others notice--but from a love for learning vs. fear of falling back, no longer mattering, or not fitting in. If you're wanting to improve your word choice or even find new ways to use plain words, consider these five coaching steps. An article on Medium offers these same insights and some helpful digital tools, too. Connect with me, Coach Debbi McCullough, about your group's communication challenges by clicking here. Or, do visit my LinkedIn profile and website. Know someone wh...2022-05-2109 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: The Biggest Myths About Job Interviews (And How To Debunk Them)Around half of Americans, Brits, and Australians are on the hunt for new jobs. Figures are scant elsewhere; but if my coaching base stays reflective of communicators, I'd say those numbers feel about right. But if a job interview awaits us, what myths exist on how we show up as communicators? In this week's podcast, I debunk the biggest myths I see plaguing communicators starting with this idea that researching about the company becomes the most important task or that researching ought to consume us. Not true. Getting grounded, peaceful, and taking time to truly celebrate our...2022-05-1012 min
The Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: How Do We Get Going With Our Venture And Put Aside Our Fears?My guest this week is entrepreneur and coffee e-retailer Brad Peugh who (through the height of the Pandemic) launched his e-retailer selling (what I find to be) the best coffee in America. Brad's drawing from two major life experiences to launch Peugh's Brews: His time in the Air Force where he learned resilience, problem solving, but also exposure to the world's best coffee and intriguing cultures. He's also leaning in on expert organizational skills he uses daily as a program manager. Listen in to hear Brad's journey and what he's learned along the way--wisdom you...2022-04-2525 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: Help! Staying Calm When Leaders Hijack Our PresentationWith the Great Return underway--and 50% of businesses demanding workers return to the office--politics are running amok. What's the bigger cry for help? Staying calm, focused, and centered when leaders hijack our meetings or presentations (and especially when external parties watch on.)Fret not. This week's podcast episode offers tried-and-tested tips and techniques which other communicators have found yield positive, uplifting results. Connect with me, Coach Debbi McCullough, about your group's communication challenges by clicking here. Or, do visit my LinkedIn profile and website. Please share this podcast episode with anyone you know needing/wanting communications...2022-04-1610 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: Finding the Gifts and Opportunities In Wisconsin, the U.S.'s 7th Coldest StateLast month marked my fifth year living in the U.S. midwestern state of Wisconsin, one of America's most frigidly cold states. I’ve found surprising gifts from the long, drawn-out colder temps which can linger through to May. (Last week, we froze for days. Yesterday: snow!)In this week’s episode, I’m celebrating Wisconsin and what I learned about myself and my situation from a cooler climate. By that, I’m applying the Sage perspective I bring to my life and coaching: finding gifts, opportunities, and even knowledge, within tricky situations.A few resources...2022-04-0114 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: How Do I Ditch My Fear Of Public Speaking?As we transition back to the office, we bring with us our fears and discomfort with public speaking. Having overcome this fear myself, I've a few tips and techniques (which include mental fitness approaches) and ideas I've co-created with coachees/leaders from all over the globe. Have a listen to this week's podcast and see how differently you feel from taking baby steps each week to get out of your mind, into your body, and keep your audience front of mind. My earlier podcast on not letting our Judge take over in these high-stakes moments might spark so...2022-03-1623 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: How Do We Draw Boundaries? Interrupt? Share Our Work Without Suck Up?In this week’s podcast, we unpack (with the help of my dear coachees) some helpful strategies for the world’s biggest, most looming business communication problems. I gather (then share) recurring themes and patterns I've noticed from hundreds of individual coaching sessions and the recurring learning: Communication problems become personal problems, but also room for growing confidence — and courage, as you’ll hear today. Connect with me, Coach Debbi McCullough, about your group's communication challenges by clicking here. Or, do visit my LinkedIn profile and website. And please share this podcast episode with anyone you know...2022-03-1110 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: How Do We Talk Ourselves Out of Fear When Bullied At Work?This week, on February 23, many countries, including Canada and the U.S. honored Anti-Bullying Day as a way to stand against bullying. Countries like New Zealand honor Anti-Bullying Day in May and of course more honoring occurs with national bullying prevention month in October here in the states. As someone who’s been a target of workplace bullying, I’m curious how this phenomena impacts us at work, home, and how we communicate, especially now with workplace bullying on the rise. With that, I’ve invited to my show Lida Citroen. She’s a Colorado-ba...2022-02-2625 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: How Do We Know It’s Career Change Time?My guest this week is Coach Deb Skarda, a former critical care nurse, turned corporate pharmaceutical leader, turned leadership consultant and coach. Deb's successfully navigated three major career changes, most recently leaving a thriving career as a global pharmaceutical leader to launch her own business from Wisconsin as a leadership coach. Our interview explores how we know when to change careers, how to navigate these times, communicate our narrative with ourselves (and others) and why Deb loves coaching so much. Reach out to Deb Skarda via her website or via LinkedIn. Connect with m...2022-02-1926 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: How Do We Manage Our Meeting Schedule With Love Vs. Fear?Meeting fatigue has leaders all over grappling with sadness, loss, and questions about life. Cognitive overload from staring at screens create other struggles. Communication challenges range from shutting down when faced with ad-hoc questions and fading executive presence. But there's ways to turn the ship around by managing your schedule with love vs. fear. In this week's podcast, we're unpacking ways to challenge your fixed mindset around saying 'yes' to all meetings using a fun and loving hybrid of communications coaching and mental fitness techniques. You can find the article on Medium here. Interested in...2022-02-1209 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sagers: How Do We Ask About Love? Manage Meetings? Stand Up To Bullies?The world never stands still when we lead. Life continues swirling around us and I notice this point when coaching and training leaders on written and oral communications. They know: to lead well, they must address whatever obstacles prevent them from leading from a clear, compelling place. (I feel so happy and honored to help.) In this ongoing series, I’m sharing the most pressing and/or memorable problems leaders come to me with each month— and how we turn things around. This episode tackles three big communication challenges: How do I ask about love? (And...2022-02-0516 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: How Do We Communicate With Love and Positivity Vs. Fear and Worry?In this week's podcast, I take the interviewee vs. interviewer seat. Charles Jett, a Chicago, Il. based career coach, interviews me on PQ Podcast, a weekly podcast exploring the ways that mental fitness (our ability to rebound with a positive vs. negative mindset) helps us in life. In this interview, Charles asks me how I apply this magical tool to my communications, my life, and my energizing work as a communications coach helping leaders all over the globe to manage their fears and find their own unique, authentic brew of executive presence. The web link for the...2022-01-1540 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: How Do We Speak Up In Noisy Meetings And Feel Truly Heard?If you're a reserved or introverted communicator, you may feel you must share your ideas only when (and if) it's fully hatched. Or perhaps you feel less compelled to disrupt or add any more noise because you feel little need to share yourself. Either way, when you know silence doesn't provide the best option, ways exist to speak up in meetings which feel authentic, aligned with your observant personality, and also add value. In this week's podcast we unpack tips and techniques to honor your excellent listening and observation skills and speak up in interesting and unique wa...2022-01-0713 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: How Do We Create Vital Space For True, Long-Term Growth? Ask Dorie Clark.My guest this week is Dorie Clark, an American author and executive education professor at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. Along with working as a globally recognized communications coach for top-tier corporations, Dorie's also a three-time book author, most recently with: The Long Game: How to Be a Long-Term Thinker in a Short-Term World , which releases this month from Harvard Business Review Press.In our interview, Dorie shares gems from her early starts, what sparked her to leave small-town North Carolina and start a bigger, ambitious life alone. She shares how to create the vital sp...2021-09-0818 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: Replacing Fear of Personal Rejection with Love For Learning. Five Questions with Bill CarmodyMy guest this week is Bill Carmody, Head of Coaching for Positive Intelligence, who oversees the application of mental fitness for thousands of coaches worldwide. He also creates and rolls out the business development program where he supports coaches to elevate the business end of their coaching business.In our interview, Coach Bill reminds us to love vs. resist and fear personal rejection, especially when growing our business. He invites us to find lessons and wisdom from personal rejection and to embrace the learning which comes from each of the 'no's' which lead to the 'yes.' 2021-09-0317 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: How Do We Circumnavigate Burnout? Ask Marie-Louise Pereira.My guest this week is Parisian and Armenian Coach Marie-Louise Pereira who helps the many coachees she serves all over the globe better understand our values, our purpose and with a vital end goal: To avoid burnout. With around 75% of US and European professionals reporting feelings of worker burnout, never has it become more pressing to understand the signs--and to use our sense of purpose to help us stay on track, working and living in healthy, meaningful ways. Coach Pereira shares her first-hand knowledge of burnout and what she loves about serving clients on this i...2021-08-2722 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: How Do I Make My Enormous Ideas Tangible? Sharing Big, Half-Hatched Ideas With AudiencesIf you're like me, you're often sharing your ideas in a free-flow way wanting to make sense of things as you go. While external processing's lovely for big-idea people, from the field I hear a real appetite for bottom lining big, but not fully-formed key ideas. The need for some structure and brevity feels especially vial in ad hoc situations, like group meetings, and in ways which hook and retain often distracted audiences. In this week's podcast, consider these tried and tested techniques to share and frame ideas, even rambling ones, in ways where your audience follows, t...2021-08-2116 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: Finding Calm, Courage and Bliss Through Art. An Interview with Jayne WilloughbyMy guest today is Jayne Willoughby, a professional coach and artist based in rural Alberta, Canada. Jayne's a true Sage Sayer who's found the gifts and opportunities through life's inevitable setbacks. Jayne's cheerfully reinvented herself multiple times across multiple industries including nursing, psychiatry, and now coaching. She's a certified coach focusing on mental fitness and using art, something she's immensely gifted at, to help others find their strength, calm, and purpose. In our interview with this award-winning artist, we learn the gifts, opportunities, and knowledge Jayne's gathered from her colorful careers. We learn too how she finds cr...2021-08-1424 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: Writing Of Your Successes With Courage Vs. Fear. Applying Love to Your Performance Review.Performance reviews can trigger angst in all of us — and not surprising really because so much feels at stake. And yet, applying a blend of mental fitness, communications coaching, and journalistic strategy, you’ll find efficiency, clarity, and results. Consider these five approaches to minimize the guess work (and worry) with your next performance review. Have a communication challenge to tackle with Coach Debbi? Sign up here for a sample session. Visit her on LinkedIn, or via her website.2021-08-0612 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: How Do I Stay Audience Centered, Clear, (and Compelling) When Writing To My Audiences?There's real folly right now in not writing in clear, accessible, and audience-centered ways. Here in the U.S., the home for The Sage Sayers, 30% of workers plan to resign from their jobs and Gallup polls track around 70% feel dejected and not interested in work. In this week's podcast, I'm sharing tips and techniques for bottom lining key information in your next robust informative message. Whether you're emailing leaders about your stellar performance or alerting a team of a morale boosting initiative, this podcast offers all you need to keep the message crisp, compelling, well structured, and...2021-07-2315 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: How Do We Find Our Inherent Gifts? The Perfect Novel of My Life. Chapter One.In this week's episode of the Sage Sayers, I’m narrating Chapter One of the Perfect Novel of My Life. This narrative coaching and mental fitness exercise builds discovery of our inherent gifts to the world and the gifts, knowledge, and the opportunities within each challenging situation. I learned this exercise through the Positive Intelligence mental fitness program under the training and leadership of Coach Shirzad Chamine. I loved the experience so much, I created my own hybrid version combining journalism, narrative coaching, and storytelling. The result: Self awareness. Storytelling excerpts no marketer can possibly find...2021-07-1015 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: How Does the Language of Data Transcend all Challenges (and Boundaries)?My guest this week is Colby McCullough, a supply chain expert with a combined 24 years of experience in the aerospace and consumer goods industries. He grew up in New Orleans and holds a BS in Structural Engineering and an MBA in Operations Research from Carnegie Mellon. Colby now directs the supply chain analytics at a large, Mid West consumer goods company where he and his team develop analytical tools and reporting to ensure the supply chain runs most efficiently (a great thing, especially within these disruptive, singular times). Clear, succinct, and compelling communications, a craft we can al...2021-07-0224 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: How Do We Sound (and Feel) Brave When Asking For More?In this week's podcast, we offer tips and strategies on asking for a raise, promotion, or improved rates and terms with a contract. This podcast provides a revised audio version to Coach Debbi's article on feeling brave as we persuade, published this week on Medium, which you can find here.Have a communication challenge to tackle with Coach Debbi? Sign up here for a session. Her next communication workshop lives here. 2021-06-2513 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: How does community bring us calm and strength? Pastor Thomas DeLoach knows.My guest this week is Pastor and Dr. Thomas A DeLoach who captures the hearts of North Carolina's youth through preaching, coaching, and his provocative messages on God and community. With Father's Day approaching, Pastor DeLoach's beliefs feel extra timely: He wants to raise the standard of character and integrity of our leaders and help young, troubled youth remember the love of God and their community when they feel lost in their ways. As communicators, we can learn from Pastor DeLoach's integrity, his vision, but also his techniques on finding calm, passion, and center as he...2021-06-1835 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: Celebrate the Way and the Pay. Finding Gratitude and Happiness in Sales.Gunter Schaber wants to transform how salespeople (and entrepreneurs) view their prize. He means: Rather than focus exclusively on the big payout at the end, enjoy the journey along the way. Doing so becomes vital, if you want to feel happy, he says, and will help you become more successful, too. In this week's podcast, we hear from Gunter, a Munich, Germany-based sales coach, how (and why) we must rebound with positive vs. negative emotions as we persuade others to say 'yes' to our products or services. Guenter believes mental fitness becomes a vital tool for weathering...2021-06-0929 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: Using Practice, Courage, and Creativity to Combat Speaking With Fear. An Interview With Peter Khoury.My guest this week is Peter Khoury, a professional speaker and public speaking coach from the West Bank based in San Francisco. Peter's a great story to tell of a life full of art, priests, and wonder as a boy to his career in engineering, training, and now public speaking and training through his business, Magnetic Speaking. Peter's a firm believer of learning, growing, and retooling. He offers within this episode great tips on how to sound lively, authentic, and fearless with your next presentation, too.Visit Debbi's website, book her for a complimentary coaching se...2021-05-2834 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: How Do We Dismiss Our Inner Judge's Lie(s) When We Present to Spooky Audiences?In this week's podcast, we explore how mental fitness through Positive Intelligence (the science and practice of mastering your mind so you can reach your full potential) serves us with high-stakes presentations and messages. Glossophobia, the fear of public speaking, becomes a universal problem and no other tool (I've discovered) helps like mental fitness does. Today's episode (a kick-off in a series on mental fitness and direct communication) shares the Sage perspective and the Sage Empathy power. These two super powers will help you ground, worry less, and deliver your message from a place of love, confidence, a...2021-05-1926 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: How Do We Save and Honor the Work (and Industry) We Love? An Interview with Jennifer Kho.My guest this week is Jennifer Kho, former managing editor for the HuffPost and the Guardian's US edition. She's now president-elect for the Journalism and Women Symposium and senior advisor to leading media outlets including Canary Media and Capital and Main. Throughout her career, Jennifer's always loved the storytelling and knowledge she gained from reporting and writing stories; now she's equally as passionate about saving journalism (and ensuring its worth saving by solving its diversity and equity issues). In this interview, we hear of the gifts, the knowledge, and opportunities Jennifer's gathered throughout her career—and...2021-05-1234 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: Sparking Joy at Work. Tidying Up How You Work and Spend Your TimeMost of us want to feel joyous at work and a delightful 2020 book by Marie Kondo, tidying expert and best-selling author, and Scott Sonenshein, an organizational psychologist has loads of timely advice. In this week’s podcast, I share the core lessons and steps I absorbed from “Joy At Work. Organizing Your Professional Life,” in hopes it sparks joy in your work—both present and future. For more on Debbi McCullough, her coaching, training services, and upcoming workshops, visit her on LinkedIn or at her website. Her blog on Joy at Work lives here. 2021-04-2910 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: How Do We Find (and Live By) Our Ikigai, Our Life's Purpose? An Interview with Hector Garcia.My guest this week is Hector Garcia, a citizen of Japan and the author of several beautiful and best-selling books, including Ikigai, the Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life which he co-authored with Francesc Miralles. In our interview, Hector inspires us how to find and honor our Ikigai, our life's purpose. In doing so, we can better ensure we spend more time doing things we enjoy and that bring us joy and purpose, even during challenging times. You can learn more about Hector Garcia and his new, upcoming book release by visiting his we...2021-04-0842 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: The Gem in the Woods. Finding Hidden Gifts (and Joy) Within FailureWhether we view failure with fear, shame, or disdain, culturally and generationally we can see many different ways we respond to failure. Although I've lived and worked within cultures which find failure off-putting and signaling incompetence, I'm working to welcome failure as a vital segue to meaningful growth. (Mental fitness and finding the Sage perspective within setbacks really helps!)In this personal story, I share an epic career blunder and how it presented gifts, opportunities, and knowledge I'm still benefiting from today. I hope my story helps you feel less mortified when (or if) you ne...2021-04-0710 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: Do You Sound Pompous When You Write?In this week's podcast, Coach Debbi offers five tips to warm up the tone of your business writing so that you sound warm, accessible, and open vs. closed off and cool. If you suspect your readers tune you out, let's turn that ship around. If you're interested in Debbi's narrative coaching and executive communication coaching and training services, click here. 2021-03-2414 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: Must We Combat Our Fear of Change? (Hint: Yes!)My guest this week is Amy Boettcher, an ICF certified coach and former attorney who practiced divorce law for 18 years and was partner at her Wisconsin-based firm. Two years ago, after honoring her need for new knowledge, growth, and for change, Amy retrained in an entirely new field: Coaching. She's since developed an intriguing, purposeful niche serving divorced parents who've found their judgment (and discord) of one another gets in their way of co-parenting their child from this new, often uncomfortable place. The knowledge she gained from coaching training and from her legal practice has...2021-03-1629 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: Enrolling Clarity, Courage (and Love) In The Fight For CancerMy guest this week is California, Santa Cruz-based Chris Baker who, a few years ago, became one of the US's 106,000+ cases of newly diagnosed melanomas. Skin cancer, by far the most common form of cancers, impacts twice as many men as women and in Baker's case went on to become Stage Three. His likelihood of becoming one of the 7,000+ people to die from melanoma that year felt high, especially with rates rising rapidly over past decades.In this moving interview, Baker, a true Sage Sayer, shares how surviving his health ordeal transformed him. And he...2021-02-2625 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: The Art of the Hustle, the Risk, (and the Struggle). Entrepreneurship During Covid-19.My guest this week, Dr. Sergey Sikora, has learned rich life lessons about entrepreneurship from launching five successful ventures, including Releviate Therapeutics. He launched this most recent bio-pharmaceutical company, which develops therapies to target (and relieve) neuropathic pain, right within the thick of the Pandemic—a perfect environment for any startup, he says. This (milestone 10th) episode of the Sage Sayers offers insight into the bravery and agility required for startup owners and business-builders everywhere. You can learn more about Releviate Therapeutics here. Track down Coach Debbi for a complimentary narrative or executive communications coaching and...2021-02-2428 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: You're Flat, Darling. Adding Life (and Love) to Flat, Monotone Vocal DeliveryIn this week's Sage Sayer's podcast, we tackle an age-old vocal pattern getting in our way of connecting with and retaining our audience: Flat, lifeless, and monotone vocal delivery. Coach Debbi offers ten coaching and business reporter tips to add warmth, vocal variety, and passion to your next high-stakes presentation. Visit Hanging Rock Coaching for Coach Debbi's coaching and training services or schedule a complimentary coaching session. 2021-02-1714 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: Pardon My Filler. Five Ways to Manage Distracting Verbal FillerIf excessive filler words take over your presentation, you're signaling to your audience your discomfort, disinterest, and/or that you're not feeling prepared. In this week's Sage Sayers podcast, Coach Debbi offers five tips to managing verbal filler (words like: “um,” “uh,” “like,” “you know”) so the vocal pattern doesn't overwhelm you—or lose your audience. (Incorporating PQ reps, a powerful and succinct technique for quieting your Survivor brain and activating your PQ Sage region in your brain, becomes part of this week’s offering. You’ll notice powerful shifts as you present!)For information on Debbi and her coachin...2021-02-0222 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: The Business and Joy of Podcasting (Tips from Veteran Podcaster Marc Lee)This week, we chat with veteran podcaster, Marc Lee, an award-winning executive producer with IBM.TV and host of multiple podcasts, often back-to-back within the one day. (He's a machine!) Lee, based in North Carolina, learned some fundamentals of effective audio storytelling through his parents who ran their own radio station during his boyhood. Lee offers us tips, strategies, and insight into how to last the homeward stretch, avoid fadeout, and stand out among the 850,000 - 1,175,000 podcasts (depending on the data source) engaging podcast listeners today. Visit Coach Debbi, your show host, at www...2021-01-2125 minThe Sage SayersThe Sage Sayers: How to Wow Your Audience? Listen Well.We all want to captivate our audience; but in meetings, many simply want to feel they're listened to. In this podcast, Coach Debbi offers tips to listening in ways that others notice—and respond well to. For more insights and tips on business communication or for team or individual coaching and training, visit: Hanging Rock, LLC (hangingrockcoaching.com)2020-12-2209 min