CELEBRATING 60 SHOWS AND OVER 50,000 DOWNLOADS! In Episode 60 that kicks off 2024 of the Shining Brightly Podcast Show (LINKS IN THE COMMENTS) titled, “TOP SHOWS OF 2023”. I look back at some fantastic episodes that had real impact, gave everyday people a voice and we laughed, cried and learned along the way. True hero and shero stories of struggle, love, hope, resilience, empowerment, survivorship, relationships, business, cancer and more. Every week I worked hard to motivate, educate and inspire the listening audience to SHINE BRIGHTLY A LITTLE EACH DAY FOR OURSELVES, OTHERS AND IN OUR COMMUNITIES TO MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE. Come download, listen, share and review the year in review!
Mentioned Resources
website - https://www.shiningbrightly.com/
Podcast - https://shining-brightly.captivate.fm/
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/howardsbrown
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/howard.brown.36
Amazon - https://tinyurl.com/BuyShiningBrightly
About the guest - Howard Brown is an author, Silicon Valley entrepreneur, interfaith peacemaker, two-time stage IV cancer survivor and healthcare advocate. For more than three decades, Howard’s business innovations, leadership principles, mentoring and his resilience in beating cancer against long odds have made him a sought-after speaker and consultant for businesses, nonprofits, congregations, and community groups. In his business career, Howard was a pioneer in helping to launch a series of technology startups before he co-founded two social networks that were the first to connect religious communities around the world. He served his alma matter —Babson College, ranked by US News as the nation’s top college for entrepreneurship—as a trustee and president of Babson’s worldwide alumni network. His hard-earned wisdom about resilience after beating cancer twice has led him to become a nationally known patient advocate and “cancer whisperer” to many families. Visit Howard at ShiningBrightly.com to learn more about his ongoing work and contact him. Through that website, you also will find resources to help you shine brightly in your own corner of the world. Howard, his wife Lisa and daughter Emily currently reside in Michigan.
Thanks for listening!
Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.
Don't forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast app so that you do not miss future episodes. And while you are there, it would help us get the word out to more people if you could leave an honest review.
Subscribe to the podcast
If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe to your favorite podcast app.
Leave us an Apple Podcasts review
Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.
#2023yearinreview #welcome2024 #best #podcast #episodes #author #bestseller #speaker #cancer #entreprenuer #coaching #healthcare #business #charity #giveback #motivation #education #inspiration #podcasting #download #listen #share #review #celebration #shiningbrightly
Hello, it's Howard Brown. It's the Shining Brightly
Howard Brown:Podcast Show. This week, we're doing a year in review top shows
Howard Brown:of 2023. This is episode 60. So thanks for listening,
Howard Brown:downloading, sharing and reviewing what a year it's been.
Howard Brown:I started this podcast as an offshoot of the publishing of my
Howard Brown:book. And to be able to start a movement, to shine brightly, use
Howard Brown:our light, and get out of the darkness, and be able to live a
Howard Brown:life of kindness, and giving and healing, as well as use that
Howard Brown:resiliency and mental toughness to live a good life with hope.
Howard Brown:And that's what we're doing. So I have so many interesting
Howard Brown:guests. It's really been an incredible 60 episodes. And I'm
Howard Brown:gonna highlight a bunch of them. I've got more than a top 10
Howard Brown:list, because some of them actually tied and reviewed them
Howard Brown:with lots of people and my publisher, and the votes are in.
Howard Brown:So we're going to share my screen for those that are
Howard Brown:watching. But for those that are listening, it's okay, I'll be
Howard Brown:I'll be descriptive as far as how that works. So let me share
Howard Brown:my screen. Here we go. And there it is. Yeah. All right. So it's
Howard Brown:just been an incredible experience, interviewing the
Howard Brown:most interesting people, great guests, with great stories of
Howard Brown:either overcoming anything from hardship, to illness, in
Howard Brown:business, and in life and in relationships, and sharing their
Howard Brown:inspiration with the audience and my people. And it's been
Howard Brown:great. I've really enjoyed every minute of it. So welcome to the
Howard Brown:shining, brightly show, 2023 year in review, top shows. So
Howard Brown:we'll go to the slide show. And there we go. All right. So I did
Howard Brown:four solo shows this year. And they were actually really
Howard Brown:important shows. The first show was 18 equals life. Now, it's
Howard Brown:not showing on the screen. But that was just my appreciation
Howard Brown:for my cancer anniversary of being diagnosed. June 16 2016.
Howard Brown:Yeah, June 4 2016. And what happened was, is that I just had
Howard Brown:an appreciation for life. And I've been through a lot, a lot
Howard Brown:of treatment, chemotherapy, side effects, lots of surgeries,
Howard Brown:clinical trials, then went metastatic, and so many people,
Howard Brown:you know, honour so many people that one, get diagnosed, two
Howard Brown:that are still in treatment, and three that are have passed away
Howard Brown:because their cancer burden was too great. And God called them
Howard Brown:to heaven. And this is why I shout at the top of my lungs to
Howard Brown:go get screened. So that was episode 18 also did episode on
Howard Brown:cancer screen week as well. So go get screened for your
Howard Brown:mammography, for your prostate for your lady doctor and
Howard Brown:cervical cancers, colonoscopy through a for colon cancer and
Howard Brown:also lung cancer, and just go be healthy because if you're not
Howard Brown:your optimal self, you you can't lift yourself up and help
Howard Brown:others. As I always say, the next episode was a Father's Day
Howard Brown:episode. It was for all the dads out there, and especially to my
Howard Brown:miracle girl, Amelie. And it's the best job and it's a hard
Howard Brown:job. But boy, is it a blessing to be a dad. And I've just what
Howard Brown:a great episode. So episode 18 was life and then episode
Howard Brown:Father's Day was 31. And you can go back and listen to those
Howard Brown:episodes and just terrific. Good stuff. Episode 42 was done in
Howard Brown:August and it was about getting my chemo poured out. After seven
Howard Brown:and a half years I had this little port inside of me that
Howard Brown:was underneath my clavicle, and it connected to my vena cava.
Howard Brown:And it was how chemotherapy got put into me and it's a pretty
Howard Brown:vital piece so you don't have to poke the veins but Some people
Howard Brown:told me I was crazy because I played basketball a lot with my
Howard Brown:chemo port. And so I would protect myself with my hand over
Howard Brown:my heart and protecting the port. When I felt contact, the
Howard Brown:other hand was protecting the crown jewels. But basketball was
Howard Brown:my happy place. And so when you go through and get knocked down,
Howard Brown:as I always say, you must get back up again and again, learn
Howard Brown:from the darkness, but get back up and survivorship and putting
Howard Brown:Humpty Dumpty back together again, not once, but twice,
Howard Brown:maybe even a third time. I dedicated episode 42 to that,
Howard Brown:and episode 50 They hate me, but they don't even know me. And
Howard Brown:this is a serious episode. Because what's going on in the
Howard Brown:world. It was about hate. It's about how you can choose to
Howard Brown:hate. It's not something that we're born with. It's learned.
Howard Brown:And there's just a lot of hate going on in the world. And it's
Howard Brown:unacceptable to me. And I do a tonne of interfaith work. And I
Howard Brown:think it broadens your culture, the history, foods, religion, of
Howard Brown:learning about other people and understanding them, it broadens
Howard Brown:you and they in turn can learn about you and your culture and
Howard Brown:your religion and your history and your foods and be good
Howard Brown:neighbours. And so with all the hate going on, and the rise of
Howard Brown:anti semitism the rise of Islamophobia. Episode 50 was
Howard Brown:really an important episode. So now I want to change it up just
Howard Brown:a teeny bit and talk about episode 36. Oh my god. I had
Howard Brown:rice and thrive together. And these are my art our sisters and
Howard Brown:Regina Rossi. And it was just unbelievable. Dr. Raquel Stewart
Howard Brown:and these women crack me up. I played a game of she said she
Howard Brown:said they introduced each other and they told something secret
Howard Brown:about themselves. And I'm not going to spoil it for you. You
Howard Brown:have to go back and listen to episode 36. The they are amazing
Howard Brown:energy. life coaches, couples coaches, they will get you back
Howard Brown:on track. Let me tell you, I also got to go on their TV show.
Howard Brown:They were on. Shout out to Blanca and Blanca Perper. She
Howard Brown:has runs a Roku channel with 50,000 subscribers. And it's the
Howard Brown:laws of life channel. Shout out to her and oh my god, these
Howard Brown:ladies, they are my r&r Sisters, I love them. And please go check
Howard Brown:out episode 36. You won't regret it for sure. Now, this one right
Howard Brown:here is one of my earlier episodes. This is when I
Howard Brown:probably had very few audience but a big fan of Kevin Munroe.
Howard Brown:Episode Five is Gratitude is the attitude. He is the gratitude
Howard Brown:guru. I go to his gratitude encounters once a month, he's
Howard Brown:got a gratitude community. And he uses the Mentimeter. And he
Howard Brown:actually surveys, everyone on zoom on how they're feeling
Howard Brown:about gratitude coming in, and how they're going out and you
Howard Brown:break off into breakout rooms. And we talk about empowerment
Howard Brown:and hope and how that positivity can really really change from
Howard Brown:moment to moment, but change your day. Change your
Howard Brown:trajectory, change your work life, change your relationships
Howard Brown:with your kids and your spouse and your friends. So and I wake
Howard Brown:up every morning and I actually say a ritual of gratitude. And I
Howard Brown:say that I am blessed. I am grateful and lucky. And I hope
Howard Brown:to be able to help many people today. And so what a great
Howard Brown:episode I think you're really going to enjoy that as well.
Howard Brown:Okay, the next episode little more serious. But Amanda
Howard Brown:Blackwood. I got introduced her it's episode 26. And it's human
Howard Brown:trafficking and trauma and survivorship. Oh my god, this
Howard Brown:woman has a story. It's unbelievable. And I asked her a
Howard Brown:question on the show in studio. I said, you know, I've never met
Howard Brown:someone that's been human traffic before. And she said to
Howard Brown:me, she said, you probably have you just didn't know it. And
Howard Brown:there was six different types of human trafficking and human
Howard Brown:trafficking. meaning that she suffered was servitude.
Howard Brown:She got into a very difficult marriage, and she was trapped.
Howard Brown:And she actually had to play a trick on this person and to get
Howard Brown:her freedom. It's such a captivating episode. And it also
Howard Brown:talks about other types of of trafficking as well. We've heard
Howard Brown:about traffic, tracking sex trafficking other ones as well.
Howard Brown:So episode 26 is a little more serious, but she's such a
Howard Brown:resilient woman, and a lot of respect for what she went
Howard Brown:through and what she conquered and what she overcame. And this
Howard Brown:is what the show is all about, is learning about that. So
Howard Brown:Alright, next episode that I wanted to feature episode 28. Oh
Howard Brown:my god. Linda. Oh, my God. She's absolutely incredible. She
Howard Brown:interviewed 20,000 people. And then it was like, I think a
Howard Brown:computer interview process, I hope because it would have taken
Howard Brown:her forever. And her episode and what it's why it's best to date,
Howard Brown:like a caveman is really, really important about relationships.
Howard Brown:And, you know, does the bad boy always win? Right? What's the
Howard Brown:you know? Can the geek get a date? It's just unbelievable.
Howard Brown:She's so experienced. She's a published author. She's a
Howard Brown:corporate trainer. She's a coach. And it's it was a great
Howard Brown:episode is unbelievable. of dating scene a little bit of a
Howard Brown:little bit more from the men's perspective. And so, go check
Howard Brown:out episode 28 why it's best date like a caveman. I think
Howard Brown:you'll, you'll really enjoy that as well. Well, here's here's
Howard Brown:someone that I'm truly inspired by Nim stat, go all in. This is
Howard Brown:a woman that moved here from Thailand with nothing,
Howard Brown:absolutely nothing. And she has built a very, very cool
Howard Brown:business. She is a book publisher. Also, she is a TEDx
Howard Brown:trainer. She's done a TEDx. She's actually published a whole
Howard Brown:bunch of books. And she runs the go all in fest a couple times a
Howard Brown:year, which are speaking about inspiration. And it's truly
Howard Brown:amazing. She has a Book Awards, which I won, shining brightly
Howard Brown:won the most inspirational book of the year. And I got an award
Howard Brown:and a beautiful trophy, and very proud for that. But also, she
Howard Brown:has her own TV show. And so I went and flew to Phoenix,
Howard Brown:Arizona, and she put it out on ABC TV 15 In Phoenix, and then
Howard Brown:we were able to broadcast it out. And I did a 30 minute show
Howard Brown:with her when my book came out what a great interview, she was,
Howard Brown:oh my god, she's like Oprah on the couch. It was incredible. I
Howard Brown:really enjoyed it. And she's a very passionate, smart
Howard Brown:businesswoman. And really, really incredible. So check out
Howard Brown:episode 23 called go all in only way to go. And I actually have,
Howard Brown:there's like four women in a row that are going to feature. This
Howard Brown:is right now in a row, and they happen to be Asian women. And
Howard Brown:this next one is episode 37 by Sheena Yep, Chan, direct from
Howard Brown:outside of Toronto, Canada. And she published a enormous book
Howard Brown:called The Tao of self confidence. And her stories of
Howard Brown:Asian women. And being able to and what they were brought up to
Howard Brown:and expected to do was not to be able to step out, not to be
Howard Brown:bold, not to actually use the courage and get out there and
Howard Brown:lead. And it's a really impressive book. I've read it. I
Howard Brown:interviewed on it. She's now signed on to do a book too. She
Howard Brown:has a great publisher, Wiley, and she speaks everywhere and
Howard Brown:coaches women about how to take charge of their lives and to be
Howard Brown:able to lead with confidence and incredible book incredible
Howard Brown:person. check out episode 37 chinny chin I think, great
Howard Brown:episode, great episode. Oh, my goodness, and then we actually
Howard Brown:have Sabrina runback episode 17 Now, this is one master
Howard Brown:connector. The expert connector is the name of the episode and
Howard Brown:she teaches you the four C's of networking and coaching. This is
Howard Brown:a former you know clinician in biology. She knows how to
Howard Brown:network like no other expert networker. She will teach you
Howard Brown:the four C's of connection, about making that quality
Howard Brown:connection and actually how to grow those connections and turn
Howard Brown:those into revenue. And great podcaster as well. Great
Howard Brown:speaker. Check out Sabrina run back in episode 17. You'll learn
Howard Brown:a lot, for sure. Oh, and then we have my friend and there's
Howard Brown:actually I'm showing a picture of ReadOn in studio. She's in
Howard Brown:Montreal, I think as well. So I guess we're in a Canadians. Were
Howard Brown:in the Canadians a little bit about there. But I'm wearing my
Howard Brown:shining brightly sunglasses. She's sharing some inspiration
Howard Brown:of the hummingbird. Now, the hummingbird was her sister that
Howard Brown:passed away, it gives her a lot of inspiration. She is
Howard Brown:absolutely a relationship expert. The episode 49 is what
Howard Brown:is true love. And she is very spiritual. Her energy is
Howard Brown:amazing. And she is able to consult with people about how to
Howard Brown:prepare for their first date and their 10th date and be able to
Howard Brown:navigate the dating scene and the relationship scene. And I
Howard Brown:have to tell you, I'm following a column of hers right now. This
Howard Brown:is actually, you know, shows you how people are authentic. You
Howard Brown:know, my guests are. She's actually publicly speaking about
Howard Brown:her breakup right now. And she's in heartbreak right now. And
Howard Brown:being able to tell people about that is really something that's
Howard Brown:incredible. So if you follow her on socials redawning, and on
Howard Brown:Facebook and on Instagram, I think she might even be a tick
Howard Brown:tock and also, of course, LinkedIn. So what is true love
Howard Brown:for dating advice? Great show. You I think you'll love it.
Howard Brown:Well, moving on. All righty. Well, this is a very special
Howard Brown:friend of mine. This is Jenny marks. And I call her Jenny hope
Howard Brown:monks.
Howard Brown:She runs a foundation and she's a cancer survivor. She's a TEDx
Howard Brown:speaker. She's a cancer coach. And she runs a foundation called
Howard Brown:all about hope. I mean, she's she's really an angel. She gives
Howard Brown:little kids hope the bear that have a speaking message in it.
Howard Brown:She able raises money for people, families that have kids
Howard Brown:with cancer that need help and financial assistance. And she
Howard Brown:runs a huge network out in the west coast, San Luis Obispo, and
Howard Brown:I met her early on in my cancer diagnosis. And she sent me a
Howard Brown:bear. So I'm gonna reach over for a second and show you guys
Howard Brown:hope the bear I didn't have them right with me now. Now we got
Howard Brown:back on camera. This is hope to buy you're done. I gotta change
Howard Brown:the battery. But she left me a beautiful message. And she is
Howard Brown:very special friend of mine. And you got to have hope. Hope is
Howard Brown:the fuel that gets us through those tough times. And so are
Howard Brown:you a hope maker? And she says, Are you a heartbreaker? Be a
Howard Brown:homemaker, be a good friend. But hope is very important. It's how
Howard Brown:I actually had survived cancer twice. And I set out those
Howard Brown:short, mid and long term goals. And it's it's just incredible.
Howard Brown:So check out Jenny marks. Are you a homemaker, homemaker,
Howard Brown:Episode 32. Oh, this is special. So moving on. Episode 22, my
Howard Brown:friend or REIT, Rambler. She's down in North Carolina,
Howard Brown:originally from Israel, and she is a life coach extraordinaire.
Howard Brown:Oh my god, she's so organised. She's actually been my coach.
Howard Brown:And she wrote a book called the box of life. Now, when you
Howard Brown:really think about things, you know, you only you don't even
Howard Brown:get 140 characters on your tombstone. If you analyse what
Howard Brown:your life is about, right, and how you lived your life, and she
Howard Brown:always says that you can actually keep track of that, you
Howard Brown:know, digitally, metaphorically or physically put items in a box
Howard Brown:that represent the most important parts of your life.
Howard Brown:They can be pictures, they can be art. I don't think you want
Howard Brown:to put in food because I think it'll mould but you're really
Howard Brown:talking about what your legacy is, and how you want to be
Howard Brown:remembered. What a great book. So great speaker, great coach.
Howard Brown:And you'll love the book, a box of life. So check it out episode
Howard Brown:22 and and think about your legacy, I think very, very
Howard Brown:important part of doing things as well. Okay, now here's from a
Howard Brown:little inspiration here. So Episode 52, Keith bow ring. This
Howard Brown:is recent. So but eight episodes ago, and I was introduced to key
Howard Brown:from John Rappaport a really good, my brother from another
Howard Brown:mother, friend, and Keith. He's incredible. So it took about 18
Howard Brown:months. And he got diagnosed with frontal temporal dementia
Howard Brown:FTD. And he is literally losing his mind. They don't know when
Howard Brown:but eventually he will not be able to speak. And he started
Howard Brown:stuttering and slurring a little bit. And it took a long time to
Howard Brown:get diagnosed. Actor Bruce Willis took three years to get
Howard Brown:diagnosed with this very rare disease. And he came on my
Howard Brown:podcast for the first time going public ever. It's a very
Howard Brown:powerful episode. There's a frontal temporal lobe dementia
Howard Brown:Foundation, and he's a big part of that. And he's getting the
Howard Brown:word out for the people because it's very difficult. And he in
Howard Brown:the episode he talked about actually, not knowing and then
Howard Brown:also not revealing it to people at work and all that. But his
Howard Brown:wife was noticing that he was being more forgetful, slurring
Howard Brown:his speech, stuttering and then finally went to the doctor, but
Howard Brown:it took a long time. Such an inspirational episode.
Howard Brown:Incredible man, just full of full of heart and energy in
Howard Brown:check it out, check out episode 52 losing my mind with Keith bow
Howard Brown:ring. All right, Episode 43. There is no why. So this one was
Howard Brown:one of my hardest episodes I ever did. Because Ashley, the
Howard Brown:mom and caregiver, and Michael, I think is age 19 At the time of
Howard Brown:his diagnosis of of cancer, blood cancer, and the Kramer's
Howard Brown:make this unbelievable couple and pair. And what it did was it
Howard Brown:took me back 34 years to my mom, Nancy Brown, and me and when I
Howard Brown:was diagnosed, but I was diagnosed at age 23. And the
Howard Brown:amount of love they have for each other and the world and
Howard Brown:helping others is incredible. Right now, I believe he's
Howard Brown:suffering from a little bit of graft versus host disease after
Howard Brown:transplant. And it's caused him a tonne of side effects. So he's
Howard Brown:taking meds and all that hopeful that's working out I got to
Howard Brown:check in with him. And what an incredible strength of a single
Howard Brown:mom with three kids. She lost her husband to cancer. So she's
Howard Brown:a widow, and just so much strength in this episode. And it
Howard Brown:just reminded me so much of me at age 23 with my mom taking me
Howard Brown:to every single appointment, every blood transfusion, every
Howard Brown:chemo appointment, even to the stepping stones support groups.
Howard Brown:I mean, we're joined at the hip and I saw them too. And so
Howard Brown:unbelievable episode, I think you'll really learn a lot about
Howard Brown:an incredible young man. Incredible mom and their
Howard Brown:relationship and it mirrors my mom and Nancy Brown. Shout out
Howard Brown:to you mom, and check out episode 43 with Ashley and
Howard Brown:Michael Kramer. There is no why. Oh, wow. Next episode 51 This
Howard Brown:was incredible. So oh my god. The bones are incredible. They
Howard Brown:did Carl is he's a madman. And Melissa they're incredible
Howard Brown:couple. She basically dragged his ass to the hospital. Okay,
Howard Brown:because he was having a grand mal seizure. And he's now live
Howard Brown:to tell about it. He has so much energy just pure power. So
Howard Brown:episode 51 Surviving purely out of spite. All my God he rip rip
Howard Brown:tater chip. It's all energy that is a you know from start to
Howard Brown:finish. Carl is incredible. She's incredible. They ended up
Howard Brown:you know, he had chemo he had surgeries. And he's alive to
Howard Brown:tell about it. And he gets in these ice baths. And it's
Howard Brown:actually shocks his body shocks his brain. And he's a miracle
Howard Brown:walkin just like me just like key. Just like Michael Kramer a
Howard Brown:lot of miracles in what I'm talking about in the podcast. So
Howard Brown:just you got to tune into that one because it's incredible,
Howard Brown:high octane episode. There's the there's the warning there
Howard Brown:episode 51 Surviving purely out of spite. Wow, really cool.
Howard Brown:You'll like that one. Okay, heading down the homestretch
Howard Brown:here. I will tell you that I met this woman when I was going
Howard Brown:through chemotherapy. Her name is Maggie cook one G. And you
Howard Brown:can check her out at Maggie cook.com. Her story blew me
Howard Brown:away. So, Episode 16. Your purpose is you. This is an
Howard Brown:orphan from Mexico. I think she would take ketchup packets and
Howard Brown:spices and call it salsa and make it for the kids in the
Howard Brown:orphanage. At least that's my side of it. And as she grew
Howard Brown:older, the older kids take care of the younger kids. And she was
Howard Brown:really good at basketball. She's a point guard. That's why we
Howard Brown:love each other. Because I'm a basketball point guard and she
Howard Brown:loves hoops. I don't think she plays much anymore, but I do.
Howard Brown:And she got a scholarship to East Carolina, played hoops and
Howard Brown:graduated. And unfortunately, she didn't have family so she
Howard Brown:became homeless. And I think she started making her little catch
Howard Brown:ups in spice salsa for the homeless crew. This just tells
Howard Brown:you the person she is she got someone who loaned her $800. And
Howard Brown:she made salsa and started like a little bit of a catering
Howard Brown:business. And she I think approached over 100 Folks, she
Howard Brown:was kind of catering parties, and finally Whole Foods, took an
Howard Brown:appointment with her and loved her salsa. And she went from
Howard Brown:making a small amount to a lot of salsa. And as karma would
Howard Brown:have it and hard work. Campbell's Soup Company bought
Howard Brown:out. Maggie cook for a big dollar amount. And she's got
Howard Brown:this incredible story. And she is a woman CEO, a minority CEO.
Howard Brown:She went back and adopted these kids and save them from the
Howard Brown:cartels in Mexico. How incredible is this? So she's an
Howard Brown:author. She is a speaker. She runs a speaker mastery class. I
Howard Brown:know a bunch of her students shout out to Rachel rose. And I
Howard Brown:think very Kenzi as well. But incredible speaker came on my
Howard Brown:show early on. And I want to be speaking with her because she
Howard Brown:makes the big bucks. She's an incredible corporate trainer
Howard Brown:speaks all over the place. And Her story's amazing. And she's
Howard Brown:just a humble, amazing person. And I love Maggie cook and I
Howard Brown:gotta bring her back for a second episode. Actually, I'm
Howard Brown:that's what I'm gonna do I think so check out episode 16. Your
Howard Brown:purpose is you and check out Maggie cook.com with one G and
Howard Brown:learn with all the amazing things that she does. All right.
Howard Brown:Well, this episode was one of my top episodes of the year. Now,
Howard Brown:when you actually listen to this episode, it will be on January
Howard Brown:3. So we'll be already into the new year. And I will have
Howard Brown:crossed 50,000 downloads. I started in February of 2023. And
Howard Brown:so the show is picking up huge steam, huge momentum. And this
Howard Brown:episode has sort of just been the top Episode Episode 47. A
Howard Brown:lot more. Absolutely incredible story. I met her at a networking
Howard Brown:event online on Zoom. We were in the same breakout room. And I
Howard Brown:found her story so compelling. I reached out to her. And I was
Howard Brown:her first podcast episode ever, where she was going to share a
Howard Brown:story I know she's writing a book. And the episode is called
Howard Brown:incarceration to inspiration equal sign justice. All right,
Howard Brown:the highlights of the story and we are wearing sunglasses on the
Howard Brown:show in studio. And she shined brightly Oh my god. So she tells
Howard Brown:a story of being a young impressionable fashion designer
Howard Brown:in Canada, and she was asked to go to Panama. And while in
Howard Brown:Panama, she was asked to take home a suitcase. Well, hopefully
Howard Brown:you know where this is going. And she did it even though she
Howard Brown:probably knew that it was the wrong decision. And she brought
Howard Brown:to the airport, a suitcase as a drug mu and that suitcase ended
Howard Brown:up having cocaine in it. And she didn't speak the language. But
Howard Brown:she got busted at the Panama airport, coming back to Canada
Howard Brown:and She spent 81 months in a Panamanian women's prison. Now
Howard Brown:when she tells that she's getting off of a bus, you know,
Howard Brown:with handcuffs, and women are in jeans and a pink T shirts and a
Howard Brown:curlers in their hair out in the yard. And she, she went to
Howard Brown:prison, and she speaks about life in prison. She thought
Howard Brown:she's gonna get her butt kicked. She ended up becoming like a
Howard Brown:fitness instructor, she learned the language, she was able to
Howard Brown:give a very inspirational speech. That means she got off
Howard Brown:campus off the off the prison yard and got to do that. I think
Howard Brown:even our parents got to come down and see her. And after 81
Howard Brown:months, she got parole, but she couldn't leave the country just
Howard Brown:yet. And so she got placed with the founder of Burt's Bees,
Howard Brown:chapstick type stuff, and or lip balm. She's not chapstick. And
Howard Brown:she met a man. And she got pregnant. And then when her
Howard Brown:parole came up, she got booted out of the country. And she
Howard Brown:moved back to I believe Vancouver, British Columbia,
Howard Brown:Canada. And she had a baby. And she named that baby justice. How
Howard Brown:fitting right? And so baby justice must be three or four
Howard Brown:years old now. And I know she's travelling in a little bit right
Howard Brown:now. But really incredible story. Really incredible story
Howard Brown:of Absolutely. Making a mistake paying for it and trying to turn
Howard Brown:your life around and make something for her and justice.
Howard Brown:And hopefully she'll see her fiance i believe or boyfriend
Howard Brown:and someday soon, but incarceration to inspiration
Howard Brown:equals justice. Awesome, my number one episode for downloads
Howard Brown:of the year. And, and listens. And so I wish a lot more all the
Howard Brown:best, check her out on Instagram, on Facebook or on
Howard Brown:LinkedIn as well. And just a while just a while. So that's my
Howard Brown:top episodes that I wanted to share with you. I'm gonna stop
Howard Brown:sharing the screen now. Come back on camera and tell you what
Howard Brown:it's a pleasure. I've really enjoyed having my own platform.
Howard Brown:And my guests are not famous stars, although I think I'm
Howard Brown:gonna attract some really cool people, celebrities and sports
Howard Brown:stars and others. But these are everyday people that are telling
Howard Brown:their story. And I'm sharing their and their story and them
Howard Brown:with the world and my audience and really great life lessons,
Howard Brown:amazing life lessons. And I want them to shine brightly and share
Howard Brown:their light with you my listening and watching audience
Howard Brown:as well. And so I'm going to put on my shining brightly glasses
Howard Brown:right now for those that are listening. So I've got metallic
Howard Brown:white glasses on and I am shining my light back to you.
Howard Brown:And I want to tell you that I am so grateful for those that are
Howard Brown:listened to me and are starting to listen to me continue to
Howard Brown:listen to me every Wednesday starting at 4am Eastern time
Howard Brown:whenever the new episodes popped. I've got some great ones
Howard Brown:coming up. And so join me in 2024 to keep shining brightly.
Howard Brown:Because if you shine brightly for yourself, for others, for
Howard Brown:our communities, it makes the world a better place. keep
Howard Brown:shining brightly. And thank you check out shining brightly.com
Howard Brown:Come check out my speaking and the paid speaking gigs, lots
Howard Brown:more of their podcasts. Also my book selling really well my
Howard Brown:memoir shining brightly. And also this podcast can be found
Howard Brown:there every week on a feed and also my advocacy, my advocacy
Howard Brown:for entrepreneurship. My advocacy for mentorship is
Howard Brown:leadership and my service work in the cancer world. Also the
Howard Brown:interfaith world. So from me to you go make the world a better
Howard Brown:place. We all get knocked down in life. But it's our job to get
Howard Brown:back up again and again. Shine brightly, always