86. About talking to people you disagree with, with Josh Trent

Find Your Voice, Speak Your Truth

One day this fall, I was scrolling through my Instagram feed, when I saw a post from my friend Josh. It was a screenshot of Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s response to President Biden’s mask mandate. Gov. Abbott wrote “Biden’s vaccine mandate is an assault on private businesses” and below in the caption Josh wrote “I DO NOT comply.” My first thought was “Eesh, I need to unfollow my friend Josh.” But as my finger moved to hover over the button my second thought was: “Elissa Weinzimmer... you’ve got one person in your feed who’s not in your silo of agreement. This is an actual chance to practice Conversation Culture.” In his comment, Josh had also said that he really wanted responses, especially from people who disagreed. So I took him at his word and instead of unfollowing, I commented. A real conversation ensued, and now we’ve brought that conversation to this podcast. Thank you so much Josh Trent, CEO of Wellness Force, for opening your heart to speak with me in a way that most of us avoid. Josh and I agree that these conversations - that really hearing each other - are the keys to creating change in our world. We hope this conversation is helpful to you, and if it ignites something that you want to share please reach out to either or both of us... we genuinely want to hear from you.