A weekly podcast on ways to stay calm and compel others as you communicate. Along with executive communications tips and strategies, we interview intriguing individuals who've found the "Sage approach" by finding gifts, opportunities, and knowledge within trying situations. New Zealander show host, Debbi Gardiner McCullough, has written on social and business trends and struggles for the Economist, the Guardian, and Financial Times of London. She's a self-retired college professor of writing, an executive communications and narrative coach. Visit her at: www.hangingrockcoaching.com
A weekly podcast on ways to stay calm and compel others as you communicate. Along with executive communications tips and strategies, we interview intriguing individuals who've found the "Sage approach" by finding gifts, opportunities, and knowledge within trying situations. New Zealander show host, Debbi Gardiner McCullough, has written on social and business trends and struggles for the Economist, the Guardian, and Financial Times of London. She's a self-retired college professor of writing, an executive communications and narrative coach. Visit her at: www.hangingrockcoaching.com
A recent live, online workshop I hosted reminded me of the power of grounding in our bodies, one sense at a time—-and with nature, my favorite tool and companion. A documentary essay of my last few hours before going live. 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 coach to leaders all over the globe. Find her on LinkedIn . Join her upcoming workshop on Maven, Brag Like a Boss .…
British Marketing and Product GTM Leader, Nirav Patel, rejoins us on the Sage Sayers for an update on his life since our earlier episode. He’s now a podcaster, like me, five episodes into his show Unwinding Pursuits, and has learned a lot from his rich conversations with his guests. He’s still thriving as a leader and on Father’s Day weekend, reflects on parenting his three daughters and the gifts, opportunities, and knowledge within. We take a lovely wander down memory lane, two foreign born professionals and parents drawing on our lessons from our own childhoods (Nirav’s from India and the UK and mine from New Zealand, Pakistan, and Brunei where I spent part of my girlhood.) We agreed that while children are better off in many ways today, much freedom and heightened innovation and creativity came from our youths; making your own fun and games, structuring our own time, without much input from adults at all. You can find Nirav Patel here on LinkedIn and follow his delightful show Unwinding Pursuits here . 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 coach to leaders all over the globe. Find her on LinkedIn . Join her upcoming workshop on Maven, Brag Like a Boss , and her free Lightning Lesson Brag Anway. Defy your Cultural Norms here.…
Experts tell us AI writing adoption's now mainstream with 82% of businesses using AI tools for creating content. Good news for the AI market, now projected to reach a $1.8 trillion global AI market by 2030. And yet we know AI's not perfect at writing. In fact, partners I team with, like Maven, a popular platform for cohort-based learning where I'm building several communications workshops, discourages course creators to use AI for writing a course design. It reminds us to use AI to brainstorm content ideas, not to write them. I fully agree, and so does entrepreneur and Carnegie Mellon University professor of entrepreneurship Mark DeSantis. In this week's episode, one of my favorite entrepreneur buddy's back, discussing with me how we use and don't use AI for our writing. You'll learn some new ways to use AI to help kickstart your writing. And you'll hear some cautionary tales on how the world's most talked-about technology can actually muddy and cloud our written word in ways that don't serve us (nor our readers) well at all. You can hear our earlier interview from January, another favorite episode here . You can find Mark DeSantis who also consults and teaches entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University here. 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 coach to leaders all over the globe. Find her on LinkedIn . Join her upcoming workshop on Maven, Brag Like a Boss , and her free Lightning Lesson on one-liners here.…
My guest this week is Dr. Elise Wilkerson, a culture champion in the workplace, an evaluator, educator, and researcher. Dr. Elise is also a woman eager to share her story with endometriosis, a condition impacting 1:10 women of reproductive age globally—an estimated 190 million. Its symptoms can cause pain and potential infertility, and yet what Elise, who struggles with endometriosis has found, too few women talk about what this is like, especially the most painful part: the infertility. In our interview, which we recorded on Mother's Day week, Elise shares her experiences in hopes that other women can feel less alone. We learn about her self advocacy, her struggles with not being able to be a mother, and how faith and hope and love from her husband (and even self love) play a helpful role. You can reach out to Dr. Elise Wilkerson via LinkedIn. 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 coach to leaders all over the globe. Find her on LinkedIn . Join her workshop on confident storytelling, Brag Like a Boss.…
“It’s not bragging if you can back it up.” So said Muhammad Ali — the late boxer, social activist, and cultural icon known as The Greatest. He was right. And yet, too many of us shy away from bragging in our self-appraisals and self-assessments. We can default to vague, corporate language, light on specifics. Gems — the crowning achievements — get buried or left out. I think I know why. Most professionals spend 1–3 hours writing their self-appraisal (McKinsey tells us), but privately many spend beaucoup hours agonizing over it. Why? Fear of disdain from a dismissive boss. Lost confidence from missed promotions. Awkwardness from childhood messages that praised humility and discouraged self-praise. When coaching, I’ve found a few things that help. For the writing piece, approaching your writing like a journalist works: Capture the win, offer context, and tell a darn good story. That’s what we’re offering in this week’s Sage Sayer’s episode—my gift to the restless and ambitious. Read my musings this week on Medium or join our conversation on LinkedIn. 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 coach to leaders all over the globe. Find her on LinkedIn . Join her active listening workshop on Maven, Listen Like a Boss .…
You don’t get great at entrepreneurship without being an amazing storyteller. And Mark DeSantis, an entrepreneur whose robotics company was acquired by Kubota Corporation, is truly excellent. But not everyone embraces the opportunity of storytelling or knows they can bring these skills they use with their kids, those they love, or friends to work. Even fewer realize that storytelling might simply be framing an idea as “our experience.” Failure to employ this innate skill we all possess is a missed opportunity, especially for leaders, Mark muses in our insightful interview. (And don’t even get him started about his disdain for slide decks, the very death of effective persuasion—and storytelling, in his view.) You can hear our earlier interview from January, another favorite episode here . You can find Mark DeSantis who also consults and teaches entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University here. 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 coach to leaders all over the globe. Find her on LinkedIn . Join her active listening workshop on Maven, Listen Like a Boss .…
My guest this week is Stephen Lancaster. He’s a vocal artist, baritone, and teacher who has performed song recitals in New York, Paris, Berlin, and Gstaad. Media like Fanfare Magazine describe him as “varied in tone and alive to feeling,” and having invited him to the Sage Sayers, we fully agree. In our delightful conversation, Stephen, who is also Professor of the Practice at University of Notre Dame, shares his early starts into music (which began from his church). We hear of the confidence that comes from using our voice with ease and the freedom and startling joy from breakthroughs. He even teaches us activities for the days when our voice won’t cooperate, which feels very freeing indeed. Reach out to Prof. Stephen on LinkedIn or via his website. 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 coach to leaders all over the globe. Find her on LinkedIn . Want to listen better and ask better questions? Join her active listening workshop on Maven, Listen Like a Boss.…
Listening 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 coach to leaders all over the globe. Find her on LinkedIn . Want to listen better and ask better questions? Join her active listening workshop on Maven, Listen Like a Boss.…
Interrupting 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 main reasons I find we interrupt and some active listening tips and hacks to cut back on the habit lest we lose too many friends. 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 coach to leaders all over the globe. Find her on LinkedIn . Want to listen better? Join her active listening workshop on Maven, Listen Like a Boss.…
Select Model Management fashion model, Gina Magro, never cared much for fashion growing up. Like your show host, she enjoyed casual clothes and exploring more than prancing. “I placed a lot of value on comfort so I could climb and move with freedom,” she recalls. Today (with both Select Milan, Paris, and Chicago, and ELITE NYC) she graces runways in international centers in China, Europe, and New York. And having joined our Sage Sayers show last spring in Chicago , her home base, we brought her back to talk more on fashion, ease and flow with our appearances, but also ensuring we pull ourselves together well for the audiences that matter to us the most. We learn of the power in simple fixes, clothes that feel comfortable but flatter, and the need (at all times) to stay true to ourselves as we figure out our aesthetic, while also honoring how we want and need to be. Executive leadership presence, after all, ties in part to how we appear, feel, and seem. You can find Gina’s portfolio by clicking here and find her on LinkedIn here . You can reach out to me, your show host, for communications coaching and training via my website or Linkedin. And join me for my first live workshop via Maven Learning in April: Listen Like a Boss.…
Two weeks ago, I coached and listened in deeper ways that will stay with me forever. I felt deeply connected to my coachee. And she to me. I slowed things down. As did she. I poured in very little. In fact, I only asked questions. I mirrored back. I got deeply curious. I noticed inconsistencies between her non-verbal cues and her words, but without trying to mold, steer, nor change. We experienced joy, abandonment, discovery—all through me actively listening. And the entire call, all 38 minutes and 25 seconds of it, focused on what she wanted and needed, not me, and the results and clarity were huge. I never poured in one solution. She had the answers—all of them. By giving her the space, she changed how she related to her business and creativity, even her time, all from what she unearthed with me in under 40 minutes. Reading from my essay on Medium , I’m exploring what happened in this recorded call, one I can submit to the International Coaching Federation for my mentors to evaluate me as a hopeful, certifying Master Certified Coach. (I’m chronicling this journey in my Competency No 5 podcast . But I wanted to bring this piece of my journey, this breakthrough as an active listener and coach, to my Sage Sayers show. It ties back nicely to effective, stand-out communications.) I’ve realized from experiencing active listening and coaching flow this deeply, and for the entirety of a call, the empowerment and connection that comes feels extraordinary. Life changing. Emotional. I want you to experience this joy with me, which can change how you relate to others and feel about yourself. And it can help us in business as well. You can reach out to me, your show host, on all things to do with storytelling, public speaking, branding and positioning via my website or Linkedin. And join me for my first workshop in active listening via Maven Learning this month through my Listen Like a Boss three-hour workshop.…
Few LinkedIn bios are as concise as Mark DeSantis whose title alone sits within one word: Entrepreneur. Of course, he is so much more. Mark teaches entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business. And his robotics business, Bloomfield Robotics, got on the radar of Kubota Corporation, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of farm machinery, who acquired them. Mark now serves as advisor. Our ad hoc, unscripted interview started as complete strangers, two professionals with a shared love for brevity and non-fluff communications on the social media platform that scares so many. Hearing Mark’s story inspires me. The posts he and his team created employed basic but powerful storytelling techniques: Showing how their technology changes the lives of farmers. Using the farmers’ own videos. Humanizing the people behind the scenes building the technology, in good times and bad. Resisting calls to action and anything resembling cheesy marketing. Simple, but powerful, and something you can do too. You can reach out to Mark DeSantis on LinkedIn here. You can reach out to me, your show host, on all things to do with storytelling, public speaking, branding and positioning via my website or Linkedin. Stay tuned for courses on Maven Learning, launching February 2025.…
We've oodles of assessments available to understand our strengths; but People Development Strengths Coach Lindsay Moskovitz loves Gallup's Clifton Strengths assessment because the clarity that the report reveals feels pretty "spot on" and profound. She's even built her coaching career around helping teams harness the wisdom from the assessment to ensure they're doing the right work and with the right people. Having taken the Clifton Strengths assessment for this interview with Lindsay, I'm agreeing 100%. My top five strengths, which include ideation, positivity, and strategy reminded me (how Clifton wrote on them) of my girlhood self. The assessment feels affirming and gives me confidence: I'm on the right path. Nothing in my career is ad hoc. I'm applying my strengths in the perfect way for me and those I serve as a coach. (And all reinventions: journalist to professor, professor to coach, and the entrepreneurship theme throughout all make perfect sense.) In our New Year's conversation around all this, and on the cusp of Lunar New Year, the year of the wood snake (which is all about creativity, bold moves and more), Lindsay's insights feel super on pointe, hopeful, and just delightful. Super helpful for interviews and any time we're talking about ourselves and our work. You can find Lindsay on LinkedIn here . Reach out to me, your show host on all things to do with storytelling, overcoming public speaking fear, active listening, and reinvention via my website , or find me also on LinkedIn .…
I once took a 20+ hour journey from New Zealand to Malaysia at age 11 with minimal assistance aside from a sibling, the occasional airline chaperone, and then my Mum from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur. It felt very defining then as it feels today and brings me fodder on how and I why I grew so comfortable speaking with and being around strangers. I’m reading this week from an essay I enjoyed writing on Medium , inspired purely by the lovely men and women who’ve asked me to coach them on the delightful (but daunting) ebbs and flows of human conversation. Special thanks to Dotun Ayeni, my friend and producer, who always lifts me up as much as he does these episodes. This one might be a favorite for 2024, despite my slightly husky voice from a recovering cold. You can reach Dotun (and I do recommend him for your podcast production) via LinkedIn or on Twitter @dotmanly. Reach out to me, your show host on all things to do with storytelling, overcoming public speaking fear, active listening, and reinvention via my website , or find me also on Linkedin .…
Many 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 produces my two podcasts (among many others for his other clients) on what we ought to keep in mind as newbie podcasters. Listener note: I misspoke. My downloads (per Buzzsprout.com data) are far higher than I thought. Total downloads across two podcasts with almost zero marketing sits around 10,000. That I did not know this data speaks to my scrappiness, which I hope you will forgive! You can reach Dotun (and I do recommend him for your podcast production —very highly) via LinkedIn or on Twitter @dotmanly. Reach out to Coach Anita Rodriguez via her website and via LinkedIn . Reach out to me, your show host on all things to do with storytelling, overcoming public speaking fear, active listening, and reinvention via my website , or find me also on Linkedin .…
When London-based coaches Malvika Joshi and Amy Outterside went on independent travels, they both struggled reconnecting with friends upon their return. “Many had moved on— and I too had changed,” Joshi recalls. And yet few places to meet like-minded people (beyond pubs) existed, even though London’s huge. With few trusting one another at work either, the idea formed to create a supper club, in a neutral location, and from using coaching, storytelling, and curiosity, get groups to connect and bond over a shared want to learn about shared struggles, whether that’s building confidence or slowing down. Now on its third gathering, the Coven is on a roll and underway. In our delightful conversation, Coaches Amy and Malvika share their journey as entrepreneurs, marketers, and coaches. We also learn how they get strangers to open up with one another—a gift many business leaders feel lost on how to do—and to bond over self discovery and fabulous food. You can reach the Coven by clicking here and find Malvika on LinkedIn here. Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, group coaching, and training on public speaking fear, active listening, and reinvention via my website , or find me also on Linkedin .…
LinkedIn boasts over 1 billion users across 200+ countries and 220 million of those exist in the US alone. But many super smart and articulate professionals struggle building their business or brand there. I get to hear all kinds of blockers from my clients: Fear of seeming stupid, fear of hatred or scorn, fear of seeming 'showy' or smart aleck-y, or just making a big mistake. In our interview, Coach Xhoni, who's based in San Remo, Liguria, Italy, tells us how he's helped 80% of his clients get inquiries within 3 months, build 6-figure incomes, and sign up hundreds of clients. (He ought to know. He has around 38,000 followers and built his entire business through LinkedIn. I've also built my coaching business through LinkedIn from creating and posting weekly self-curated content on the nuanced communication struggles my clients face.) We share the blockers we hear from our coaching clients and how to navigate them. And the starting point? Quit judging each other. Create quality content. Have more fun. You can find and book Coach Xhoni on LinkedIn here . Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, group coaching, and training on public speaking fear, active listening, and reinvention via my website , or find me also on Linkedin .…
Almost 50% of U.S. military experience one or more injury each year , according to the Defense Health Agency, and injuries result in 2,000,000 medical encounters annually across military services. The most extreme, deployment-related amputations, are harder to track; but since 2001, the Department of Defense has cared for over 63,000 beneficiaries of some level of limb loss . My guest in this week’s Sage Sayers is Jon Arnold, a San Antonio-based Political Military Affairs Advisor at United States Air Force, who lost his leg when deployed with the U.S. Army and serving in Iraq. In his brave story, Jon recalls that day, what was on his mind just before the explosion incident which nearly killed him, and his courage as he healed, re-learned to walk, and the mental fitness required to find the gifts and the opportunities within. Because of his injury and the life-changing perspective change that came next, he’s never had a truly bad day since. Note to our listeners: We prevailed over some audio challenges for this episode. We do plan to re-do. You can find Jon Arnold on LinkedIn here. Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, group coaching, and training on public speaking fear, active listening, and reinvention via my website , or find me also on Linkedin .…
I hear you, dear friends, coachees, and community. Too many requests upon you. Not enough time to get stuff done. And certainly not enough time for the work that really sets you apart. In this week’s Sage Sayer’s podcast, learn tips and tools to say ‘no’ vs. ‘yes’ to the things that bog you down and get in your way of your greater legacy work and your balance, your happy time—your bliss. Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, group coaching, and training on public speaking fear, active listening, and reinvention via my website , or find me also on Linkedin . Read about Dr. Linda Babcock’s ‘The No Club’ book, and research here. Find Dorie Clark’s ‘ The Long Game’ here and hear Dorie and my wonderful Sage Sayers interview (from Season 1) right here.…
How do we build our confidence as leaders when our heritage and lessons from our elders don’t quite align with the confidence we need and see around us? Marketing consultant, Barbara Reveron, ponders on this idea when reflecting on how her Puerto Rican parents raised her to do well at work. It’s a delightful conversation which chronicles Barbara’s early days growing up in New York, and how far she’s come since. You can find Barbara on LinkedIn here. (And know she’s coming back to the show; we only touched the surface of what we wanted to chat about!) Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, group coaching, and training on public speaking fear, active listening, and reinvention via my website , or find me also on Linkedin .…
Meetings can drain most of us. New leaders tasked with connecting and growing their teams endure endless 1:1’s with their team and peer leaders. Without blocked off time for thinking and tasking, empty slots on shared calendars attract invitations like mosquitoes at a nudist beach. Many find that active listening can help; meaning, listening with all of our senses. Removing distractions and resisting the desire to solve or direct. Also, ensuring we give space for others to think, contemplate, and unlock the answers within. In this week’s podcast, consider a handful of questions and approaches to build clarity and potency in every meeting from here on. You can read along to this week’s reading if you wish, via Medium . Thank you to my brave coachees, many of whom have won new teams to lead and asked for tips on how to feel less drained from meeting everyone. This request for help inspired this podcast and musing. Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, group coaching, and training on public speaking fear, active listening, and reinvention via my website , or find me also on Linkedin .…
Like most professionals, PTO brings up mixed feelings for NY-based Head of Technical Program Management, Jessica Pelegio: fear of falling back, fear of burdening others, or fear of a deluge of of work when coming back. The Pew Research Center tells us many professionals in the U.S. do not take their full paid time off for these very same reasons, But last month, Jessica took four whole weeks of PTO—and only good things happened. In our interview we learn how she empowered her team, empowered herself, and with dear friends explored 12 countries. Not only was her team perfectly fine when she returned, they’d missed her and her travels inspired her them to prioritize self care and to do the same. Follow Jessica on LinkedIn by following this link . Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, group coaching, and training via my website , or find me also on Linkedin .…
Professionals 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 website , or find me also on Linkedin .…
When Silicon Valley-based CTO advisor Suhail Syed tells his dear mother back in India about his work helping companies grow business revenue through using products in the cloud, she looks up to the sky. "She's wondering what’s there," Suhail recalls. This sweet story reminds us of the need to clarify any jargon we use and stay audience centered, too. It’s one of many topics we cover in this week’s Sage Sayers episode. Join us on a wander through Suhail’s early arrival here in the states from India ("wet behind the ears") as a younger man and finding his way amidst cultural confusion, new beginnings, and a grit that comes when you’re determined to make things on your own. (He found solace through his own ambitions and his Muslim faith.) We share our disdain for jargon and offer some nice alternatives to the popular ones we hear around us. You can find Suhail Syed on LinkedIn by clicking here . Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, group coaching, and training via my website , or find me also on Linkedin .…
Fear of public speaking has certainly intensified. I first knew this point because my clients kept telling me so. I confirmed the phenomena for sure when I allowed myself recently to feel that intense fear once more, presenting on active listening to a live audience, with a story and a live coaching session within. My essay and musings on being knock-kneed and terrified in front of a live, high-stakes audience and noticing that once I locked into a story, one relevant to my topic and one with deep meaning to me, most of my fears melted away. Reading from my essay on Medium, which you can read with me here. Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, group coaching, and training via my website , or find me also on Linkedin .…
My guest today is marketer, builder, and innovator Simone Morellato, an Italian born technologist and marketer based in the Bay Area, California. Having long worked as a marketer for some of the world’s largest IT firms, Simone’s become expert at many things: communicating and demystifying tech for high-stakes audiences, launching beautiful products, and building high-performing global teams from the ground up. He’s also learned to see where processes can get streamlined and as an inventive type, loves to build bots to help those moments. He’s built a handful or so including a bot to streamline repeated customer questions and requests, a resume bot to help job seekers, and one to help make great menu choices at restaurants. In our interview, we hear more about Simone’s process, the delightful rabbit holes he finds himself in as he builds, and where he learned his love for creating beautiful things (his parents in Italy are shoe artisans). We also touch on ways to make our language bots work with us better, and I plan to bring Simone back to demonstrate with me ways to ask the bots better prompts. You can find Simone on LinkedIn here. Reach out to me, your show host, for communications coaching and group coaching and training via my website or find me also on Linkedin .…
With 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 in 2025 quantitative economics. Nicholas got on the radar of all the Ivy’s, received an offer from Cornell University, and communicated with the nation’s best football coaches in person and via Twitter, driving his communications strategy independently at age 17. (He started his campaign at age 15.) I promise you’ll learn from him as I do. Listen in, and congratulations again, dear Nicholas. Follow Nicholas via Twitter here Listen to our feature on the gifts of Varsity Football (from the sidelines of the Muskego Warriors) here. Reach out to me, your show host, for communications coaching and group coaching and training via my website or find me also on Linkedin .…
My guest this week is Kenza Fourati, a Tunisian fashion model in New York, U.S. who’s co-launched a shoe business that’s done very well, teaching she and her co-founders many lessons along the way. The business employs local Tunisian shoemakers, helping keep a craft alive, repurposes leather that would otherwise go to waste, and brings comfortable, stylish Mediterranean shoes to customers as far away as New Zealand. Kenza’s idea came to her amidst pregnancy and motherhood, a perfect opportunity for deep thinking. She’d long wanted to do something good in the fashion industry, one she finds exploits models and factory workers. She also wanted to challenge others’ view on her Tunisian motherland, which many associated with dark things vs. hope, creativity, and beauty. You can follow Kenza on LinkedIn here. Kenza’s shoe business, Osay, via their beautiful website. Reach out to me, your show host, for communications coaching and group coaching and training via my website or find me also on Linkedin .…
Hyacinth Tucker always loved people, enterprise, and community when growing up in Jamaica. Here in the states, she’s found a way to channel that love through her new venture, the Laundry Basket, an on-demand mobile laundry and dry cleaning delivery company in Maryland, U.S. In a short time, she’s scaled, gained a considerable client base, and gained a nod from Martha Stewart’s team for novel eco-friendly laundry solutions. In our interview, we hear how Hyacinth built her brand the old-fashioned way: getting in front of people, going to events, saying hi and asking how she could help with their laundry needs. It’s work she loves because she’s bringing time affluence to many, even saving marriages. Want to reach out to Hyacinth? Find her on LinkedIn . Reach out to me, your show host, for communications coaching and group coaching and training via my website or find me also on Linkedin .…
I'm still swooning over the delightful Chicagoans I met on a recent April visit. (They're the nicest and most open people ever!) In another ad-hoc interview, we learn from Gina Magro, a fashion model adorned in an $8.5k leather Carolina Herrera gown, on how to focus when on stage. She's also expert on seeming open, calming our mind, and showing neutral but warm facial expressions--all super helpful tactics for us as business presenters. Discover Gina’s agency page here . Reach out to me, your show host, for communications coaching and group coaching via my website or find me also on Linkedin . I'm currently accepting corporate training engagements on active listening, storytelling, brevity, and building trust amidst low morale.…
My guest this week is product, strategy, and operations leader Nupur Thakur who has spent a greater part of her career ensuring that leaders and customers understand her technology well. In a lovely conversation from her Bay Area, SF base, she unpacks what’s helped her understand her audience and how she breaks down and demystifies technical topics in ways where even the most impatient audiences really get it. You can reach out to Nupur for speaking engagements or to connect via LinkedIn here . Reach out to me, your show host, for communications coaching and group coaching via my website or find me also on Linkedin .…
John Chang moved to the U.S. from a balmy part of China with one core goal: To perform violin for orchestras. His practicing’s intense and rigorous as are his auditions. We spoke a few days after auditioning for Chicago’s opera where he and other players must perform their excerpts to faceless judges separated from the musician by a black curtain. Chang tells us of his early years in the U.S., settling in to a new land as a younger student and man, his love for the violin which brings him happiness and calm (he even plays for us some.) And he offers us as business communicators some hacks and tips for staying on course, even when our fear feels intense. Ways exist for us to talk ourselves down. Want to work with me or join my podcast(s)? Write to me at hangingrockmedia@gmail.com You can follow me also on LinkedIn and find details on my coaching and trainings via my website.…
North Carolina-based executive architect Abhijeet Patil has long led complex hybrid cloud initiatives for Fortune 500s and loved the challenge. A recent self-generated challenge to write in the public space—his “writing spree”— has helped him discover the joy, clarity, and courage that comes from expressing ourselves in the written word. He’s also learned that writing about India, his motherland, and the people he still cares about there brings geographies and hearts closer. In our interview we hear of Abhijeet’s writing process. His first beautiful essay “About My Father!” chronicles the coaching and leadership his father provided him and took him one hour to write. We hear of his love for two lands: the U.S. and India—and how writing reminds him of what’s most important: family, authenticity, courage, kindness, and love. Please follow Abhijeet and his writing via Medium, with About My Father here. Want to work with me or join my podcast(s)? Write to me at hangingrockmedia@gmail.com You can follow me also on LinkedIn and find details on my coaching and trainings via my website.…
Jill Staudacher has spent the best part of her career in pharmaceutical sales; but since COVID she’s felt drawn additionally to alternative ways to heal—both herself, her family, and friends as well. In this timely interview, from my Muskego, Wisconsin base, Jill shares her journey into a powerful career selling excellent medicines to finding a growing interest in healing naturally, both remedies and through simple dietary changes. Profound shifts have happened, including improving the vitals and prospects for cancer sufferers. We conducted this interview on International Women’s Day. So, entrepreneurship, sisterhood, solidarity, and why we must surround ourselves with those who care for and uplift us (as part of our mental and physical health) becomes an additional theme. If you’d like to reach out to Jill for friendship or guidance, find her on Facebook via Refocus your Health . Want to work with me or join my podcast(s)? Write to me at hangingrockmedia@gmail.com You can follow me also on LinkedIn and find details on my coaching and trainings via my website.…
If you’ve reworked your resume recently via Resume IO, Canva, or (my favorite platform: My Perfect Resume.com) you’ll see the creative challenge in describing our work efforts, skills, and triumphs within a few words. The summary section on Resume IO rations a cruel 200 characters. The work experience for each role? Three bullets, each worth 200 characters each. (That’s about 4 well-margined lines per role.) One recruiter told me they want to read a resume within one minute. Doable for the author? I say so. But how? We get creative. Stay open. And we trust that less becomes more. We know that the résumé’s a vessel to whet the readers’ appetite. We also learn how to remove the superfluous and retain the substance. Like one dear software developer explained our process as we refined his resume: we find the truth; remove the fluff, and then make the important stuff fit. That’s what we’re here to co-discover this week; ten quick editing tips to cull your word count and make the important and most defining moments for your personal brand fit. Read from my musing on Medium. Want to work with me or join my podcast(s)? Write to me at hangingrockmedia@gmail.com You can follow me also on LinkedIn and find details on my coaching and trainings via my website.…
My guest this week has reinvented herself multiple times through multiple life stages—even focuses of her study, career, and the way she chooses to live her life. Her name’s Rebecca, and after several decades in the corporate world—most recently in a high-powered supply chain role—she’s decided to step down, change her focus, and move away from the U.S. to Casablanca, to top things off. Like others who have created lasting change, Rebecca says the feeling that we need to change is gradual. But when the message becomes clearer, you know the feeling’s not one to ignore. In our interview you’ll hear laughter, some fear, and some realizing that if we’ve reinvented ourselves once, we can do so again—it’s part of the human condition and strength. And as a former medieval history expert, Rebecca reminds us: we can look to history for some beautiful examples. Want to work with me or join my podcast(s)? Write to me at hangingrockmedia@gmail.com You can follow me also on LinkedIn and find details on my coaching and trainings via my website.…
As we rise closer to the top-tier audiences of the companies where we serve, hooking and compelling our audience in our opening sentences feels vital. I know, because I’ve needed to cut to the chase when interviewing experts and executives for articles I’ve written — or anyone with power and visibility. I find this audience more rushed than rude and often switching from one meeting to the next, which can make them seem impatient, especially if we dilly-dally with what we want to say, why, and why they ought to care. My coaching clients echo the same and getting quicker and more nimble with leaders becomes the number one request for help, especially now with performance review feedback trickling in. So how do we hook and compel an audience within a minute or less? Here lie a handful of tactics to try out in your next pitch, sales call, job interview, or update. You can read these musings on Medium, too. Want to work with me or join my podcast(s)? Write to me at hangingrockmedia@gmail.com You can follow me also on LinkedIn and find details on my coaching and trainings via my website.…
Job seekers and those on the rise within their org need data. Numbers and trends within those numbers quantify how we excel at our craft and trade, become proof, and help paint a story — a vision — of success we can bring our future employer or team. But at least 50% of the coachees I coach struggle here because not enough time has passed to show the results, the project or product got torpedoed (typical in big tech firms), or results from our work remain downright ambiguous. That’s what we’re unpacking in this week’s Medium post, which you can read here , and what I’m reading for this week’s Sage Sayer’s podcast—our hundredth episode! How to quantify trends, patterns, and successes, when no hard data exists and plugging in some tips and tactics journalists and reporters use, (which I’ve personally used) and which translate beautifully in business. What a great way to start and kick off 2024. Happy New Year, dear listeners, friends, coachees, and colleagues to come. Want to work with me or join my podcast(s)? Write to me at hangingrockmedia@gmail.com You can follow me also on LinkedIn and find details on my coaching via my website.…
I often get asked how to boost our confidence—a tough question, because so many ways exist! My guest in this week’s Sage Sayer’s podcast shares a passion with me for travel. Her name’s Azra Bandali and she’s ventured to 32 countries, an almost annual practice she started as a girl. Azra feels convinced travel has molded her into the woman she is today. In our interview, Azra shares her favorite visits (Africa’s amongst them) and the role a self-imposed sabbatical to Hawaii played—something she negotiated with her employer— in navigating burnout and exhaustion during Covid. (She kept her job, by the way; and she’s risen since.) You can find Azra on LinkedIn and Instagram , and enjoy updates of her travels. (Her #AzrasSabbatical comes also with #KeepingitReal) You can follow me also on LinkedIn and find details on my coaching via my website. This post becomes the last post for 2023. Thank you for supporting my podcast this year! We did so great and we’re almost at 100 episodes! (Not bad for an immigrant-owned, woman-owned venture and when podcasting’s something I fit around full-time coaching.) I’ve more guests coming in the New Year and will feel inspired for more podcasting after visiting my motherland in New Zealand. Thanks again to Dotun Ayeni for his BEAUTIFUL edits. He adds magic to these captures every time. #bravecommunicators…
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 that follow-up’s pretty vital. (Job seekers, sales people, and journalists must do this all the time.) That’s this week’s offering: Ways I’ve almost always gotten through to those I’m needing and answer from, the role journalistic language and approaches can play, and some helpful and even fun framings to play with. Thanks again to Dotun for his gorgeous edits. Thanks to my coachees—especially those putting themselves out there each day while job seeking—for inspiring this episode. Connect with me, Coach Debbi McCullough, about your group's communication challenges via my LinkedIn profile and website. I'm all about us becoming braver communicators. Find Dotun Ayeni (my highly-talented producer) on Fiverr via his tagline: @titan32…
Diwali, 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 after an earlier interview, which I share here: https://thesagesayers.buzzsprout.com/1526614/12808036 . In this week’s episode, hear the gifts and opportunities of India’s festival season, including Diwali, and a call from Madhu for us all to celebrate one another’s culture and traditions, finding the joy and learnings within. Reach out to Madhu Chawla via LinkedIn by clicking here. Connect with me, Coach Debbi McCullough, about your group's communication challenges via my LinkedIn profile and website. I'm all about us becoming braver communicators.…
My 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 someone who has—a 33% uptick from five years ago. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization’s April 2023 report cites infertility affecting 1:6 people globally. Our interview shares the thought process, the system and processes, the challenges, but also the joy that comes from self-advocacy and taking charge of what we really want. Reach out to me, D G McCullough , for group or individual coaching and training on reinventing, communicating, and creating (or reinventing) your personal brand. Follow and connect with me here on LinkedIn and my writing/musings via Medium.…
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 I found then shared that narrative). I'm also pulling from job seekers out there right now and what we've co-created and applied. These tips have landed them progress in their search and/or the role of their dreams. Reach out to me, D G McCullough , for group or individual coaching and training on reinventing, communicating, and creating (or reinventing) your personal brand.…
New 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 David Cameron, by clicking here. Reach out to Isaac Te Reina about voice coaching and training on Instagram by clicking here. Reach out to me, D G McCullough , for group or individual coaching and training on reinventing, communicating, and creating your personal brand.…
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 forth, brave communicators! I promise with these tools I've co-created with clients and tried out myself, you can and will prevail. Reach out to me, D G McCullough , for group or individual coaching and training on reinventing, communicating, and creating your personal brand.…
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