Shows
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - Truth To Power. A Warning and A Promise - Jamaica’s Crossroads.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "Good morning. This is Shawna Kearsley. And welcome to the Daily Acorn. I'm a hope dealer. But today hope requires hard truth. I need to talk to you about Jamaica. My. My Jamaica. Our Jamaica. I am of the Jamaican Diaspora. My roots, they run deep in that soil. Even though my feet walk on American ground. And when you carry the blood of a nation in your veins, you don't get to stay silent when that nation is at a crossroads."
2025-11-1512 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn: "There You Are" - The Art of Making Others Feel Important.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "He understood that people, all people, from the wealthy lawyer to the construction worker, to the small business owner, they want to be seen, they want to be recognized. They want to feel important. Is that so wrong? And when you make someone feel important, you are not just doing good sales. Are you ready? Because I need you to sit down for this one. This is my big one today. You are doing good. Humanship. Yeah, human ship."
2025-11-1309 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - First Snow, Enduring Spirit: A Reflection from Class of ’93 to Class of ’29Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "This morning, as the first snowfall draped itself across our beloved campus like a whispered promise, I found myself transported back 36 years to when these same hills, these same paths, these same waters shaped me into who I would become. I was class of 1993, a rower, one of those slightly crazy souls who chose 5am Wake ups and the bite of Seneca Lake's cold embrace over the warmth of sleep. We ran first, always ran first."
2025-11-1110 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - After Melissa: Jamaica, China, and the Politics of Recovery.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "This hurricane was an earth mover. The island's earth moved. Jamaica must navigate carefully. It's committed to rebuilding by December 15 to save the crucial tourism season. Tourism is 30% of the GDP. That means Chinese built roads need to reopen. Chinese reconstruction expertise might be essential for rapid reconstruction. The Western Children's Hospital project continues. But Jamaica also needs to maintain its Caribbean leadership role and its relationship with North America."
2025-11-1011 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - Rebuilding Jamaica’s Ecosystem, One Bee at a Time!Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "So, yeah, maybe Einstein didn't actually say that quote about bees and the survival of our mankind, but whoever said it, they were onto something. The bees matter. They've always mattered. And in post hurricane Jamaica, they might just be the key to everything. Lori Little Bear and greater good charities, they get that. And thanks to their work, those tiny pollinators are getting a second chance. Which means Jamaica is getting a second chance too. Thank you for listening."
2025-11-0908 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - Bauxite, Hurricanes, and Diplomacy: The Jamaica-Russia StoryClick here to reply to @OnAcornBay "Hurricane Melissa has become a defining moment for Jamaica, testing not just the infrastructure, but the relationships, the resilience that we talk about and Jamaica's vision for the future. There is a Project 2030 on the table. Prime Minister Wholeness. So as the island rebuilds, the world is watching to see how a small nation manages both climate catastrophe and complex international partnerships. There, right? In the next episode, we're going to talk about China."
2025-11-0912 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - Hurricane Melissa: When Your Vacation Meets Reality.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "You've worked your ass off for this vacation. Then Melissa shows up. Namaste, bitches. Category 5, 160 mile per hour winds. A catastrophic storm that doesn't check your itinerary before destroying everything in its path. And somehow, somehow in the middle of this historic natural disaster, while Jamaicans are securing their families and fighting for survival, some tourists found time to complain about the food in the hurricane shelter, to demand their refunds, to post tiktoks about their ruined vacations."
2025-11-0803 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - THE QUIET THIEFClick here to reply to @OnAcornBay "You're surrounded by voices that call your name, not because they care, but because they want to keep you busy. They sell you urgency as purpose, entertainment as escape, relevance as purpose. They feed your mind with flashes of information that never stay long enough to grow into understanding anything substantial. This is how distraction wins. Not by force, but by feeding you fragments until you forget what wholeness feels like. You scroll, you click, react, consume, but never, never rest."
2025-11-0509 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | "Defying Expectations" and breaking barriers with Al "Hondo" Handy. A servant leader and community champion.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "And what I talk about is how sports affected them when they were coming up, how it has a bearing on the job that they're doing, how's it helped them in their job that they have today. And, you know, sports is all about teamwork, all about working together. And so I always talk about how has sports help you? Right. And that teamwork piece is really big. What are some of the other ways that sports. Imagine showing up on time?"
2025-11-0509 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - The Love That Saves YouClick here to reply to @OnAcornBay "You're left crumbling to figure out what changed, what you did wrong, how you get back to the good version of him. How do you do that? But here's what Forward wants you to see. There isn't a good version and a bad version. There's just him. And the pattern itself is the abuse. Recognizing that naming it is the first act of liberation. And this is where it gets insidious. Self Blame becomes the glue that keeps toxic love intact. There it is."
2025-11-0509 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | The Hidden Network Reshaping American Politics. Rockbridge Network.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "They explicitly talk about using strategic litigation to hold their opponents accountable. We see that playing out. Fourth, church organizing. They run something called Faithful in Action, recruiting churchgoers into political activism, claiming over 160,000 members. And fifth, they're targeting specific swing states to flip them permanently red through what they call red state projects. So why should you as an average American care about this? Three reasons why it matters. One, this is about power concentration."
2025-11-0409 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | The Cost of being REAL - Relevant - Effective - Aligned - LegitimateClick here to reply to @OnAcornBay "Your expansion reminds them of their stagnation. Your movement highlights. They're staying still. If you act like they don't. If they act like they don't see you, oh, they're watching. They're watching twice as hard. Trust and believe. If now some of. Some of you are standing in. In dark places right now, and I'm talking to you right here. For my friends. I love you. And you're standing in a dark place. I it."
2025-11-0407 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - No Pot to Piss In and No Window to Throw It Out Of. From the US, Looking Home.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "What it is to have, you know, 30 people crammed into the small house, plates piled high, music playing, everybody talking loud, children running through the heat from the kitchen making everybody sweat, but nobody caring because we're together. You don't know what we lost. Because he never should. He's never had it. And that make it hurt even more. My goal was always to take him home. I called my friend Marsha last night. She's from Trinidad."
2025-11-0211 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - Queen Nanny: The Woman Who Caught Bullets.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "Foreign investors come in with aid and development. Local people lose their land. Indigenous sovereignty gets erased. Culture gets commodified and sold back to you as tourism. We don't talk about this because it doesn't sell sandals and hedonism and, you know, sex on the beach. You've watched this happen across the Caribbean. You've seen it across Africa, across every colonized land where people thought they had won freedom, only to lose it again through contracts signed by corrupt officials during crisis."
2025-11-0215 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - The Science of "No Problem" How we Breathe as Jamaicans.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "It is how we process the world. From reggae to daily routines. Life in Jamaica moves at a pace that invites perspective, even when things are uncertain. And let's be honest, when aren't they? There's rhythm, there's reflection, and there is response. No reaction. Response. Now, some people misunderstand the no problem mindset. They think it's about being passive or indifferent or not caring about what happens, but it's actually the opposite."
2025-10-3107 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | Jamaica: ISLAND OF FIRE AND FORTUNE!Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "These dark, dense rocks from deep in the Earth's mantle are rich in magnesium and iron. Magnesium and iron. They're also the key to Jamaica's mineral wealth. Ooh. Pay attention now. Now here's where time becomes an artist. Over tens of millions of years, Jamaica's climate goes to work. Tropical heat, torrential rains. The volcanic rocks begin to weather and break down. And this weathering creates something unexpected. Wait for it. Bauxite."
2025-10-3010 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - THE MELISSA EFFECTUnderstanding the Economic Ripple of Hurricane MelissaClick here to reply to @OnAcornBay "But also a test of how interconnected global systems respond when a critical node fails. The economic impact of the storm will be measured in billions. The supply chain disruptions will be felt for months."
2025-10-2915 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - Waiting for MiraclesA Jamaican Abroad Watching Home Face Hurricane Melissa.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "You know what that really means? That means grandmothers in the hills with no way to get help. That means hospitals without power, trying to treat injuries without adequate supplies. That means communities completely cut off with no food, no water, no communication for days, maybe even weeks. That means devastation. Devastation. And here's the thing. Here's what I keep holding on to while I'm sitting here feeling helpless and scared and angry at the ocean for producing this monster. I know Jamaicans."
2025-10-2811 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #ThedailyAcorn - Faith, Science, and the Future: A Conversation Worth Having.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "This is about something far more interesting and urgent. How do people of faith navigate a world being radically transformed by artificial intelligence, gene editing, and climate change? Here's what caught my attention in just the last year. Nearly 90% of our pastors now say they support using AI in ministry. Two thirds use it to write their sermons. And yet, at the same time, religious leaders from around the world are meeting to ask deep ethical questions about where all of this is heading."
2025-10-2612 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - THEY BROUGHT THE GAME!Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "Just Europeans with pencils dividing up a continent like it's a pizza. And you know what they're calling it? The Scramble for Africa. Like it's a game. And the justification? Bringing Christianity, bringing civilization. Oh, we're saving souls. I'm watching King Leopold take Congo, an entire country at his purse as his own personal property. I'm watching millions die. I'm watching hands get cut off for not meeting rubber quotas."
2025-10-2510 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - Ron DeSantis—teamed up with a Democrat. Finally, Some Common Sense from Across the Aisle.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "What really gets me excited about this isn't even just the policy Though I do support Term limits, it is seeing two people from different parties actually working together on something, actually putting country over party. And that's a beautiful thing. That's what we need more of. Not Republicans and Democrats refusing to even talk to each other. Shut down the freaking government. The nerve. But people who disagree on plenty of things, finding the places where they do agree and pushing forward together."
2025-10-2309 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - One of Ours: A Jamaican’s Reflection on Winsome Earle-Sears and the Power of PurposeClick here to reply to @OnAcornBay "I think about the parents who left Jamaica, my mother, my Aunt Beverly, seeking better opportunities for us, working two, three jobs, babysitting, daycare, nanny, never complaining. And how they'll watch this election with tears in their eyes, knowing their sacrifice wasn't in vain. There's a scripture that says, let us run with perseverance, the race marked out for us. Winsome is running her race, and we get to witness it. We get to celebrate it."
2025-10-2310 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - Your Work Won’t Speak for ItselfClick here to reply to @OnAcornBay "Your Daily ACORN Challenge. Where are you being invisible in your own professional life? So the challenge is you got to start scanning around, really taking stock. Is it in meetings? Maybe you're not speaking up about what you've learned? Is it on projects? Maybe you're not naming your contributions. Is it in conversations with decision makers? Maybe you're waiting for them to figure out what you bring to the table. Stop waiting."
2025-10-2107 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - Wealth and Financial Freedom: Are you a poor man seeking cash, or a wealthy man seeking knowledge?Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "A wealth mindset says, I need to understand how money works so I never have to be desperate for it again. So let me leave you with this challenge. Starting today. Yes. The Daily Acorn Challenge for today. Commit Give me a heart. If you're signaling commitment, it will activate your commitment and activate you into this process. And really and truly, thank you for listening. Your Daily Acorn Challenge for today. Commitment to becoming a student of wealth. Read one book about money."
2025-10-1811 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - The Opposite of Love: Breaking Free from Your Little World.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "Not because they're bad people, but because they're missing the big picture. They're trying to build relationships while looking in a mirror instead of out of a window. Oh yeah, you got it. You tracking. So he. So how do we break this pattern? Okay, here we go. We're rolling into our Daily Acorn for today. We're. We have three powerful strategies and I'm going to walk you through each one. With you, your Daily Acorn challenge for today."
2025-10-1708 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - Real HOPE is Tough, Real Hope is Mean. Hope is not optimism!Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "Hope is what every teacher has when they show up to a classroom full of kids who'd rather be anywhere else and they teach anyway. Because maybe, just maybe, something they say might just stick. Here's what nobody tells you about hope. It's exhausting. Hope is work. Real, actual work. It's not passive. You don't just sit around hoping. You hope, and then you hammer you hope, and then you haul you hope, and then you help."
2025-10-1605 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyacorn - The Consumption of Intimacy!Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "The wild part? We do this while craving the very thing we're avoiding. We want someone to really see us, to stick around when we're difficult, to do the boring work of actually knowing us. But we're terrified to ask for it because we're not sure we can give it back. It's like we're all holding our breath, waiting for someone else to go first. I go first."
2025-10-1605 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - "To inspire people, don’t show them your super power. Show them theirs."Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "Three things we're tripling down, guys. Number one, notice someone doing something well that they don't realize they're good at. Maybe it's how they explain complex things simply. Maybe it's how they make everyone feel included. Maybe it's their creative problem solving. Notice it. Challenge number two, tell them. Be specific. Not just good job, but the way you broke down that complex so concept so everyone could understand it, that's a gift. That's your superpower."
2025-10-1306 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | Part 3: The New World Disorder. Shifting Sands: A Geopolitical Realignment.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "Welcome to the final episode of Shifting Sands. This is part three, the New World Disorder. So we've spent two episodes laying out how the Gaza crisis is accelerating this massive realignment of global power. We talked about Netanyahu, Bibi's impossible political situation. We see how China is expanding their influence and the coordination that is emerging between Beijing. Right. The Arab world and Pakistan. They have nukes. Now we need to tackle the hard stuff. Where does all of this lead?"
2025-10-1314 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn:BEWARE OF THE UNTEACHABLE! The Necklace of Corpses We’re Wearing.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "Not as a weakness, but as an opening, a position of strength. When someone asks your opinion on something you don't. You haven't deeply studied, resist the urge to fake it and say and weird that you picked up in the atmosphere that don't even. You don't even understand, just say, I don't know, but I'm gonna find out. But I'd like to learn all of this and watch what happens. Daily Acorn number three."
2025-10-1209 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | Part 2: The Dragon, the Crescent, and the BombClick here to reply to @OnAcornBay "So let's connect the dots. China's expanding influence, offering an alternative to Western leadership. Arab states are frustrated and they are looking for options. Pakistan's nuclear arm. Pakistan has nuclear arms connected to both China and the Arab world. Also questioning the Western system. So things are aligning in very interesting ways. Right? We're getting there. The tension is building. These three are increasingly coordinated, even if informally. They meet at Shanghai Corporation Organization summits, joint military exercises."
2025-10-1114 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | Shifting Sands: Part 1: The Gaza Crucible.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "UN officials are using phrases like collective punishment and unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe. International courts are issuing warrants. Western governments put out statements. They call for humanitarian pauses, for aid, access, for proportionality. But then the weapons keep flowing. The diplomatic cover continues at the un. The gap between what they say and what they actually do, it's impossible to miss the UN and here's what matters."
2025-10-1015 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn Jump Ship, Fire Fast: The Leadership Crisis Killing Our Sales Floors.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "Build mastery one day at a time. Instead, managers look at a struggling salesperson and think three months ahead. If they're not producing now, they won't produce then. And salespeople look at a tough month and think, if I'm struggling here, I'll magically succeed somewhere else. And both of these positions are wrong. The truth is, this greatness in sales takes time. The best salespeople weren't born crushing quota."
2025-10-0808 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - The Beautiful Burden of Success: A Meditation on Meaningful Struggle.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "It's having standards that would have intimidated your younger self. It's being able to say no to opportunities that don't serve your larger vision. Opportunities you would have killed for five years ago. That's not arrogance. That is earned perspective, my friends. You've put in the work. You've paid the tuition of failure, the tuition of disappointment. You've shown up when you didn't feel like it, and now you're standing in a life that reflects all that effort."
2025-10-0809 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | Are you driving or considering an electric vehicle or Hybrid and why?Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "But here's what's starting to become trendy is the state is now going to send you a, a bill in the mail if you have an electrified vehicle because they need to make up for the gas tax. So they sold you a bill of goods about the electric and the saving of the environment. And let me tell you, because we have the data, we have the receipts at our dealership at the Pohank Automotive Group. We have the receipts, see, because they were gonna."
2025-10-0809 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn -a gentle prayer for the people of Gaza.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "May the cycle of violence end, and may healing, however distant it seems, begin. Dear God, for all who work toward peace, for all who offer aid and comfort, for all who refuse to lose their humanity, may their efforts not be in vain. May we remember that every life is precious, and may we never grow numb to suffering wherever it occurs, whoever endures it. And may peace come swiftly. Amen."
2025-10-0402 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | What is "Planned Neglect"?Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "I think about Sarah at the library, who she reads to the kids every Tuesday afternoon to show for the children. She has to neglect some things. Her house, Billy Jo. Her level of volunteerism and service is through the roof. Things get neglected. She says no to other commitments, but they have chosen what matters most and they protect it fiercely. The truth is you can't do everything you were never meant to. And our violinists in this story understood something very profound. Excellence requires sacrifice."
2025-10-0409 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - It’s a Mind-Set: Teachability! It’s a mindset and it’s really critical that we get this one so the world can move on.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "And here's the daily challenge for today. Where in my life have I stopped being teachable? Where have I decided I've arrived? Because the truth is, the moment we think we've arrived is the moment we stop growing. Maybe it's in a relationship where I think I know everything about my partner, so I stop being curious about them. Maybe it's in my work, where I've been doing the same thing for years. I'm on autopilot here, folks."
2025-10-0208 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | "I sorry for your loss"Evening Reflection 7 days and 1 DayClick here to reply to @OnAcornBay "I'm very excited for him physically, mentally, all of it. Of course, we're selfish and we're missing them, and I'm hearing thoughts. There's no place I can go where this man did not just embody. And it's a different feeling. It's not even sadness that I'm feeling. So I don't have a word for what I'm feeling. They're saying it's grief, but I've never felt close grief before."
2025-10-0204 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailAcorn - Take A RiskClick here to reply to @OnAcornBay "Good morning. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to Acorn Bay. I'm your host here, Shawna Kearsley. Happy October. Oh, my goodness. And do I have something juicy to talk about today. So I'm sitting here with my morning coffee, and I just read this quote from Helen Keller that completely jumped right in my heart. And she said, security is mostly a superstition. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. And I'm like, wow, Helen Keller said that?"
2025-10-0104 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | Crisfield’s Infrastructure Crisis: A Call to Action!Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "But I want to hold them accountable because I really do want this. You can't put tourists in hotels that flood every few weeks. You can't expect families to buy homes that sit in standing water. You cannot run restaurants when the parking lot's underwater. This is building on quicksand, y'. All. And here's why this moment matters so much right now. Right now, Governor Moore is invested in us. He's talking about Crisfield on social media."
2025-09-3013 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - consciousness: liberation from the weight of permanence . Mi Jus Passing Thru.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "The wisdom that we gather, the love that we give, the presence we bring to each moment. These become part of our essence. Traveling with us through every passage. Every person we meet is offering a mirror. Every person that we meet briefly is offering you a mirror. In that fleeting interaction, you discover something about your capacity for kindness. Your ability to be present. Your willingness to see beyond things that are surface, those surface appearances. The taxi driver teaching us patience by telling us stories."
2025-09-2613 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | Crabs and Clam at the J Millard Tawes Governors ClamBakeClick here to reply to @OnAcornBay "We should just get rid of the word accountable because it's stupid. What is accountable when it comes to politics? I don't know anymore. It's a whole different world. It's a whole different language. And Donald Trump is kicking their asses with the game. He's winning the game. And they're just not even playing. We're just, like, eating our little potato chip and we're just complaining away and hoping that this is all gonna go away."
2025-09-2608 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - Willfully and Collectively Dumb - Death by a thousand clicks.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "We are holding on to two contradictory beliefs simultaneously. Today we see this everywhere. We know social media is manipulating us. Yes. Yet we keep scrolling. Two contradictory beliefs. And simultaneously we complain about echo chambers while never leaving our own. We demand truth while sharing articles that we haven't even read. The system isn't just making us dumb. It's making us complicit in our own dumbing down. Bam. Bam, bam, bam. Here's what makes this particularly dangerous."
2025-09-2112 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - The Courts Ruled Constitutional Violation, Maryland Cannot Muzzle Taxpayers!Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "The law specifically stated that companies may not directly pass the cost of the tax to customers by means of a separate fee, a separate surcharge, or a separate line item. Are you tracking? Think about that for a moment. Marilyn is essentially saying, we're going to tax you. You can raise your prices because of our tax, but you absolutely cannot tell your customers that you are raising prices because our tax. Why would they do this? The legislative history reveals their strategy."
2025-09-2113 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | "The Jarvis" Chronicles: Love in a Vitamin D Pill!Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "Sometimes love is making sure someone has what they need even when they're walking away from you. That was love. The realest kind of love I've ever known. Oh, I miss you, old friend."
2025-09-2005 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - Listen With Your HeartClick here to reply to @OnAcornBay "And there it is. Think about it. The same word can mean completely different things depending on who's saying it and what they're going through. When your teenager says fine, it might mean. Well, it definitely means they're anything but fine. When your friend says they're busy, they could. They might actually be saying they're overwhelmed and that they need you. They need some support. Lean in. Now here's where it gets exciting."
2025-09-1907 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - Reframing responsibility as gratitude. A gift we pass On!Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "Wisel says that practicing responsibility will strengthen your talents, advance our skills, improve our quality of life, and help our. Help us to sleep better at night. Literally. But here's the part that gives me the chills. It will also improve the lives of the people around us. Responsibility isn't a dirty word. And responsibility isn't about perfection, guys. It's about recognizing that we are the author of our own magnificent story. We're our own show."
2025-09-1806 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - You want a seat at the table? Don’t Come Empty-HandedClick here to reply to @OnAcornBay "What do you think people want to keep around? Which one of these people? Look, I get it. Maybe you're new, maybe you're intimidated. Maybe you think you don't have anything value to contribute. But here's the truth, you do. Your perspective is unique because you are unique. Your answers matter because you think you see things others might miss. Become aware lights on people. Your willingness to help someone else's idea succeed can be exactly what the room needs."
2025-09-1708 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - From "I’m Sorry" to Words of Gratitude.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "I learned this lesson the hard way in a boardroom five years or so ago. I walked in, apologize for being three minutes late. Apologize for the thick handout. Apologize for taking up their time. Honey, by the time I actually started my presentation, I had already told them seven times that I was a problem they had to endure for the next 20 minutes. My colleague pulled me aside afterwards and she said, shauna, stop apologizing for existing. Start thanking people for showing up for you."
2025-09-1608 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - Discovering Your Passion: What Makes You Come Alive?Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "I want to challenge you to spend some time with these questions. Don't rush it. Maybe journal about them or talk them through with someone you trust. Ask your friends and family what they've noticed about you. Sometimes others can see our passions more clearly than we can. And remember, your passion doesn't have to be your career. It doesn't have to be. Doesn't have to make you money. It doesn't have to impress anyone else."
2025-09-1510 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | The Uncomfortable Truth: Stop Praying for What You Won’t Work For!Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "You're just spending it on things that make you feel good in the moment instead of things that will make your life good in the long run. And let's address the money situation while we're being honest. You're praying for wealth while you have the financial habits of someone who's destined to stay broke. Financial literacy people. You buy things you don't need with money you don't have to impress people you don't like."
2025-09-1410 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | When Love Has Nowhere Left to Go But Deeper.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "You've always been here. It looks like me understanding that when he says I'm not afraid, he's not talking about dying. He's telling me that our love has become complete, total. That there's nothing left to fear about. Leaving it behind. Because he is not leaving it behind. He's taking it with him and leaving it with me. And somehow, impossibly, it will be both. It will be in. In both places at once."
2025-09-1411 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - How Love looks when it has nowhere left to go but deeper.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "You know, someone the home health aide told me once in 20 years, in doing that work, they've learned that nobody dies alone. Even when there's no one in the room. Love finds a way to be present. Nobody dies alone. And I think she meant all the love we've ever gotten shows up in that moment. Parents, friends, partners, strangers, all of it just gathers like a light in that moment. John's. And he's not here yet."
2025-09-1409 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - Find the Keys to Their HeartsClick here to reply to @OnAcornBay "Struggles that sometimes bring them to tears, things that make them sing with joy, values they'd fight for, strength they're proud of, and a unique way of seeing and interacting with the world. Take the time, take the time to discover these keys to their heart. Ask the questions, listen to the answers. Show genuine interest in the whole entire person, not just their work output. Because at the end of the day, people don't just want to be managed."
2025-09-1212 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn -Mi Jus Passing ThruClick here to reply to @OnAcornBay "Some of the deepest connections are with people we may never see again, but who somehow become part of our soul's landscape. Here's what's magical about understanding that we're all just passing through. It makes us more intentional about the traces we leave behind. When you know your time is someone's life in someone's life might be brief. You. You want to make it count. That smile you give to the cashier who looks tired, you're just passing through her day."
2025-09-1214 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | Maryland’s $360 Million Highway Heist.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "Someone inside the system, someone with access to the book, saw what was happening and couldn't stay silent. They called the Office of Legislative Audits Fraud Waste and Abuse hotline and reported a rapid increase in federal funds receivable balance. That anonymous tip triggered the four year audit that uncovered this massive scheme. Think about that for a moment. If not for one person's courage to speak up, this could have continued indefinitely. How much higher could that 360 million have climbed? 500 million. A billion."
2025-09-1213 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - Between Two Doors: A Reflection on Love and Loss.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "And in between these doors, in this liminal space where my friend exists right now, I'm finding profound meaning. And simply being present, simply loving. Simply being. Bearing witness to this sacred transition. Thank you for listening, for sharing the space with me, for understanding that sometimes we need to speak our grief out loud to make sense of it. Maybe we all learn to love without holding back, knowing that loss is part of the bargain. But never reason enough to love any any less."
2025-09-1110 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - Embrace the SuckClick here to reply to @OnAcornBay "Parents use it during those sleepless nights with a newborn instead of fighting the exhaustion. We accept that the phase is hard and temporary. Students, our students, they're back at school exam periods. Instead of being overwhelmed by stress. You remember those all nighters. They acknowledge that intense studying is a part of the process. We celebrated all nighters in midnight breakfast. The magic happens when you shift from I hate that this is hard to of course this is hard. What the fuck?"
2025-09-1009 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | LEADERSHIP REALITY CHECK: Why Praise Alone is KILLING Your Team.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "You've got David, who just landed your biggest client, but his bonus is the same as everyone else's. How motivated do you think he'll be next quarter? Here's the truth. Bomb talk is cheap unless you back it up with money. Good leaders don't just manage people, they invest in people. They understand that compensation should reflect contribution. So what's the game changer here? Here it is. The solution that changes everything. Make sure your people's pay matches their contribution."
2025-09-1006 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #DailyAcorn - Mind Shifting to The "ALWAYS A LEADER" Philosophy.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "And I'm reminding you that leadership isn't a role you play. Sometimes it's a responsibility you carry, always. Some of us are trying not to be leaders and are just stepping in it all day long. It's okay. It's a lot more fun being a leader because you're leading yourself. You're the person you're leading. You're the team. You're the corporation. Imagine that. Thank you for listening. And thank you for working with me on this mindship."
2025-09-0910 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - From Transactional to Heart-Centered Communication.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "I've watched people transform their marriages by simply starting to say, I missed you today instead of how was your day? I've seen friendships deepen when someone finally said, I've been feeling distant from you lately and I miss our connection. Your children, your co workers, your neighbors, they are all hungry for real connection, real human connection. When you model heart centered communication, you become the catalyst for something that is more authentic. Everywhere you go, authentic relationships. You become that catalyst."
2025-09-0909 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - The Transformation Trinity!Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "Not because you don't care, but because you have shifted. So if you are in the healing phase, honor your need for privacy. Create boundaries around your energy and your story. If you are in the growth phase, embrace being picky. Your standards aren't too high. The wrong people just can't meet them. And if you found peace, celebrate, celebrate. Celebrate being unbothered. You've earned the right to move through life with grace rather than reactivity."
2025-09-0808 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - Know Yourself: The Six Questions That Unlock Personal Growth.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "It was such a big aha moment. The fact that I was doing what I. What motivated me and doing it so well, and then to realize isn't actually what lights me up. I was just doing it because I had to do it. And I just do things well. I strive for excellence. You might realize you've been ignoring your values in certain areas of your life. You might uncover dreams you've been too busy to acknowledge. Here we are."
2025-09-0810 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | Preparing For Grief.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "But grief is also surrounding yourself with people and things to distract your brain from reality. Anything to get a moment's peace. The weight of it all. Grief is ugly and rough. It's not Instagram worthy. It doesn't follow a schedule. It shows up at grocery stores and in the middle of work meetings and at 3am when you're trying to sleep, sleep. So if you cannot understand why people grieve so hard for so long and so deep, consider yourself lucky to not understand."
2025-09-0807 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | The Space Between Heart Beats - the Dance Of Loyalty. it was about love wearing the armor of commitment.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "What if disloyalty is sometimes the highest form of loyalty? Think about it. When someone betrays a corrupt system, aren't they actually being loyal to a higher principle? That brings me to a third aha moment. The deepest one. Loyalty isn't about never leaving. It's about how you stay present, even when everything inside you wants to run. Even when staying means becoming uncomfortable with who you're becoming. I knew a woman once who stayed loyal to her marriage for 40 years."
2025-09-0709 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - Presents: The Power of Reframing Your Words!Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "And if you're going through what I did, guess what. Fixed. We're going from fixed growing instead of. I'm bad at this. I'm bad at this. Say I'm still learning. This is the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. I'm bad at this. Closes the door. Bam. I'm still learning. Opens a window to possibility. The little word still implies movement, progress, and hope. We're talking about progressive language progression."
2025-09-0713 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - The Secret of True Friendship. The only trick of friendship is to find people who are better than you are!Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "That there are ways we can grow, ways we can be more loving, more patient. More present. I think about my friend Maria. Maria has this incredible ability to stay calm in crisis situations. When everyone else is panicking, Maria is the one who's asking thoughtful questions, helping people think through solutions. I used to think she was just naturally gifted this way. But watching her over the years, I've realized it's a skill she's cultivated through practice and intention."
2025-09-0713 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - Self Talk - The Art Of Listening!Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "Have a productive time on my timeline and we have been talking about the time and how we bend time. 1,404, 40 minutes. I'll be at this event from 10am until I don't know, it closes at 4 but I doubt if I'll stay all that time. I do want to get some more activities in on my time. My expo mantra for today, I am not here to be heard. I am here to hear. Influence grows from understanding, not from talking."
2025-09-0607 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #ThDailyAcorn - Kicking Off the Season Of Hope!Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "Someone poured their pain into those lyrics so you wouldn't feel so all out of love. That was terrible. I'm sorry, guys. That book that changed your perspective. An author wrestled with the same demons you're fighting. That friend who's always. Who always knows what to say. I go into her office and she fixes me in two seconds without all the extras. They learn those words from their own journey through difficulty."
2025-09-0609 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - The Peace Transition - The Peace Transition: From Surviving to Thriving!Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "You are learning to trust that it's actually over. Three stages. There are three stages of personal peace. Transition awareness. Recognizing when you're creating your own chaos. Personal peace, transition awareness, acceptance and integration. Recognizing when you are creating your own chaos. Allowing yourself to grieve the version of you that always had to fight. Building a new identity around thriving, not just surviving. These are big. This is big."
2025-09-0615 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - Bending Time: Mastering Your 1,440 Minutes!Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "Every single person, every one of us that's listening here, every one of us breathing, one of us, receives exactly 1440 minutes every day. No more, no less. But here's the mystery that's captivated me for years. Why do some people seem to bend time itself? Why do they accomplish extraordinary things with the same 24 hours that leave others feeling overwhelmed and behind? The answer isn't what you might think. It's not about productivity hacks or time management apps."
2025-09-0511 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn: Your Non-Negotiables: Finding Your North Star!Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "You know, during children, when they're in their young ages, the little ones, it might mean being home for dinner every night. Later, it might mean supporting their independence. Like right now, my son is 16. I'm having a really hard time with him not being with me. When you know we're supposed to be supporting his independence, it's emotionally difficult for me."
2025-09-0515 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #JamaicaVibes Jamaica’s Journey to Independence: Why Becoming a Republic Matters! #JamaicanDoasporaClick here to reply to @OnAcornBay "We are fully capable of producing leaders that are worthy of being head of state. We do not need King Charles. Sorry, sir. King Guy. Sir. The fourth. This is a part of a broader regional movement. So we're looking to the other islands. And this is where I say Jamaica is the crown of the Caribbean. Jamaica Strong. Barbados. In 2021, Barbados led the way in this regional movement. They successfully transitioned to a republic."
2025-09-0510 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - Separating Good Managers From Great Leaders - The Intangibles!Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "And we're diving deep into a leadership principle that separates good managers from truly great leaders, and that is putting the emphasis on intangibles. Intangibles. You know, we live in a world obsessed. We are obsessed with metrics and KPIs and tangible results. But what if I told you that the most powerful leadership tools cannot be measured on a spreadsheet? Let's start with a fundamental truth that that might challenge how you think about leadership."
2025-09-0409 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - Celebrate Successes All Day Today.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "You're in the thick of it, maybe even feeling a little discouraged when suddenly someone close to you points out how much you've actually accomplished. Being hard on yourself again, are we? I remember last spring when my neighbor was working on her garden. She'd been out there every weekend. She's pulling the weeds, she's replanting, trying to get her roses to bloom again. After the winner we had."
2025-09-0310 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #ThedailyAcorn - Ode to the New School Year! Uncommon Thoughts on Common Things.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "Good morning and welcome to the Daily Acorn. Parents, listen up. This is Shanna Kearsley and I need you to hear this. You're overthinking everything. The color coded calendars, the perfect lunchboxes. The anxiety spiraling at 2am about whether your kids is ready. Stop. Just stop. Robert Fulgham figured it out decades ago. In all I really need to know. I learned in kindergarten everything your child needs to thrive, they already know it. Share everything. Play fair. Don't hit people."
2025-09-0303 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - The DISRESPECT is so LOUD!Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "You have this relationship could be a best friend, a family member, a romantic partner, even a close colleague. For months, maybe years, this person has been your go to. They're the first one you call with good news, the shoulder you cry on during the bad times. You build this beautiful foundation of shared experiences. Inside jokes that make you both laugh until your sides hurt. Shortest distance between two people."
2025-09-0313 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - From Sumblings To Stepping Stones!Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "Your test becomes your testimony, and your stumbling blocks becomes your stepping stones. But here's the crucial part. This transformation does not happen automatically. There it is. We both agree there. You have to be intentional about it. You have to choose to see your problems as temporary assignments rather than permanent prison sentences. Come on, let's switch it up. All right, let's get practical."
2025-09-0212 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - The Strategic Mindset: Playing the Long Game in Life and Career.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "Welcome to Acorn Bay. I hope everyone's having a really good time. We are going to explore how to think like a chess grandmaster about your life and your career. I'm your host, Shawna Kearsley. Welcome again to Acorn Bay. And we're going to dive deep. We're going to take a little dive into why every decision, decision we make is reshaping our entire future landscape. We're talking about the strategic mindset and playing the long game in life and in your career."
2025-09-0214 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - The Hidden Power of Putting Others First!Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "They make you feel like the most important person in the room when you are with them. They listen more than they speak. They ask about your dreams, your challenges, your victories. I fell in love with my leaders. I'm so in love with my leaders that I follow because they ask about my dreams. They care about my challenges and my victories and the real things that are happening. Not the fluffy bullshit. Oh, I'm fine. Oh, I'm killing it."
2025-09-0115 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - The Philosophy of Doing Too Much!Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "We've somehow convinced ourselves that exhaustion equals virtue. I used to brag about 12 hour workdays like they were trophies. But this philosophy asks, what exactly are you winning? If you love too much, you will be lost. This one might sting for the people pleasers that are listening. When love becomes obsession, when caring becomes codependency, you don't just lose yourself, you often lose the very relationship you were trying to protect. How about that? And the list goes on."
2025-09-0107 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - Your Words Have Power!Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "I didn't get that for a while, and then I got it. Let me share a personal example. A few months ago, I was going through a really challenging time. Things were struggling. I was dealing with some health issues, and honestly, I felt like I was drowning. Every morning I woke up and the first thoughts were things like, I can handle this. Everything's falling apart and I'm failing at everything. And guess what happened?"
2025-08-2810 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn- The Price of Success: What Leaders Must Be Willing to Sacrifice!Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "And they allowed others to hold them accountable for their commitments. In practical terms, what this means is setting clear, measurable goals for yourself and your team. Creating systems where your performance can be evaluated objectively. Being transparent about your decisions and their outcomes. Accepting responsibility when things go. When things do not go according to plan. This brings us to the central question that every leader must answer honestly."
2025-08-2513 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - The Massive Cover-up Begins!Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "Are these, is this even serious? Let me put this in perspective for you. The DDA serves about 20,500 Marylanders, some of our state's most valuable citizens. Vulnerable. Sorry, vulnerable citizens. Right. This means the financial mismanagement we're talking about amounts to over 40,000 per person served. This isn't just accounting errors. This is a betrayal of Maryland's most vulnerable families. And here's the kicker. Legislative analysts have called DDA budget a black box for decades."
2025-08-2413 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn The Last Runner: A Story of Finishing What You Start!Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "As the remaining spectators were breaking up and they were leaving, they heard the sounds of sirens and police whistles that were coming from the marathon gate. And everybody stopped. They looked towards the entrance and they're wondering what was happening. And then they saw him. John Stephen Akwari from Tanzania. He came out of the tunnel making his way onto the track for the final four, 400 meters on the circuit. But this wasn't a victory lap. This was something that was much more profound."
2025-08-2408 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - The Journey To Teachabulity!Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "And all of these, when you stack them together, ooh, that's a promise. Seek feedback actively. Don't just wait for people to give you feedback. Ask for it. Be specific. Don't be afraid. What's one thing I can do better in our team meeting, sir? How can I have handled that situation differently? Keith, Sometimes folks are afraid to respond or they may not be so elevated that you know they were checked out. So be prepared for that too."
2025-08-2307 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn. Are You "Readily" Teachable? Are You Really TeachableClick here to reply to @OnAcornBay "That's worth celebrating. Seek feedback actively. Don't just wait for people to give you feedback. Ask for it. Be specific. What's one thing I could do better in our team meetings? Or how could I have handled that situation differently? Read outside your comfort zone. Seek out perspectives that challenge your assumptions. If you're conservative, read some liberal authors. I'm sorry? Yeah. If you're liberal, read some conservative ones. Hell yeah."
2025-08-2314 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn The Initiative Advantage: Why Waiting Is the Enemy of Success!Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "It is a fundamental truth, guys, about leadership. It is a fundamental truth about personal development. Now let's bust one of the biggest myths in business and leadership. The idea that opportunity come knocking at your door. Bullshit. Here's reality opportun. He doesn't come knock, come to the door. Bang, bang, bang, knocking. You gotta go out and look for it. Think about it this way."
2025-08-2213 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn - Not everyone is capable of stewarding your vulnerability.Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "We pour ourselves out like wine from broken bottles, expecting every passerby to cup their hands to catch our crimson confessions and call them sacred. But hands were not made to hold oceans, and hearts were not built to be storm drained for every flood of feeling that finds no other place to go. Listen. Your truth is not a weight that others must carry simply because you've grown tired of holding it alone. Your pain is not a gift that everyone is equipped to unwrap with steady fingers and unshaken souls."
2025-08-2209 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn -Let’s Develop a Journey Mindset: Redefining Success!Click here to reply to @OnAcornBay "What if success isn't a destination marked on some cosmic gps, but the very act of moving with intention? What if it is not the mountain peak, but each deliberate step up the path? Today, we're gonna shatter the myth that success is something you arrive at and discover the truth that success is something you embody right here, right now, in this very moment. Let me ask you something. How many times have you thought, I'll be successful when I get that promotion?"
2025-08-2111 min
Shawna Kearsley@OnAcornBay | #TheDailyAcorn Choosing Yourself in a Toxic Dating WorldClick here to reply to @OnAcornBay "We've made it acceptable to treat people like options instead of human beings. We've turned dating into a game where the rules change constantly and vulnerability is seen as weakness. Vulnerability is the new strong, my friends. So you start doing the math. You look at your peace of mind when you're alone versus your anxiety levels when you're trying to date. You compare the energy you put out versus what you get back, and the numbers do not lie."
2025-08-2012 min