Episode 210: How to "Be Better" in 2025, with Mary Fran Bontempo
Release Date: 12/31/2024
Episode 221: Why your 20's Suck and What to Do About It with Kate Berski and "30 Phobia"
Brilliantly Resilient
"The 20s are not the best days of your life. It is a myth that needs to be busted.” ~ Kate Berski, Author: Ah, to be 20 again, right? After all, the 20s are supposed to be the best time of our lives, right? Not so fast. Kate Berski, author of notes that despite the myth, the 20's are a "tumultuous decade" full of self-doubt, unhealthy comparisons and societal pressure. Saddled with a demanding timeline that prescribes benchmarks that "should" be achieved, Kate recognizes that the To-do list for 20-somethings is not one-size-fits-all. She advises young people to take the...
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Episode 220: How to Reset, Rise, and Scale Your Business, with Ivy Slater, Author of "Best of the Best: Lead Boldly, Scale Rapidly, Create Your Legacy"
Brilliantly Resilient
“Great leadership starts by leading with a mindset that's scalable—being willing to see things bigger. What would this look like if...?” ~ Ivy Slater, CEO of Slater Success and Author of What does the word "scalable" mean to you? If you are an entrepreneur, or work with an organization seeking to build (aren't we all?), the word "scalable" should motivate and inspire. Yet, "scalable" also holds some weight, and can be intimidating. Slater Success CEO and author Ivy Slater reminds us that all businesses are scalable. And if the word intimidates, Ivy says, “Scaling is intimidating to...
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Episode 219: How to Navigate AI and the Changing Job Market, with Dr. Joan Palmiter Bajorek
Brilliantly Resilient
“My work directly acknowledges that anxiety (around AI) and talks about what actions we can take to take care of ourselves, our families, our communities, during a time that’s high opportunity but also really high volatility.” ~Dr. Joan Palmiter Bajorek AI Expert and Author of: Your AI Roadmap: Actions to Expand Your Career, Money and Joy" Are you afraid of AI? Artificial Intelligence has long been the stuff of science fiction, with the "artificial" becoming real and taking over the world. Yikes. But AI is here to stay, and according to AI expert, Dr. Joan Palmiter Bajorek, there...
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Episode 218: How to "Live with Courage and Become an Everyday Leader" with Ash Beckham
Brilliantly Resilient
"The hardest thing you've ever done is the hardest thing you've ever done. And it is no easier or harder than the hardest thing I've ever done.... Hard is hard." ~ , Everyday Leadership Coach, Inclusion Activist, TEDx Speaker and Author of Ash Beckham believes that the hardest thing you've ever done is valid simply because it was hard for you. Her approach encourages people to strip away comparison around struggle and instead recognize the commonality of the human experience--we all struggle. When we remember that whatever we are doing in relation to others, we are...
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Episode 217: Building Resilience Through Acceptance and "Owning Ataxia," with "A Good Calamity" Author, Jay Armstrong
Brilliantly Resilient
"Lasting resilience begins with acceptance. For me, acceptance is an every day prayer." ~ Jay Armstrong Author of Are you struggling to accept something hard in your life? Are you even thinking about acceptance, or are you still fighting the hard truth? Jay Armstrong was diagnosed with ataxia (a degenerative disease of the brain and nervous system) in 2013, shortly after the birth of his youngest son. The disease affects Jay's movement, balance and speech, among other things. Jay notes that accepting his disease has been a challenge, but one that has helped him build lasting...
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Episode 216: Leading with Resilience, Compassion and Empathy with Catalynt Solutions Owner and CEO Meg Gluth
Brilliantly Resilient
"It doesn't mean all the snacks in the break room are the greatest. It means that you work in a place that recognizes the dignity of you as a person, recognizes the value of your contributions, and recognizes that you're a human being with things to do." ~ Meg Gluth, Owner & CEO, Catalynt Solutions, Inc. Meg Gluth knows about the "critical importance of compassion, empathy, and resilience" in leadership. Growing up in poverty in rural Iowa, Meg's challenges eventually drove her to turn to alcohol as an "inappropriate coping mechanism" as she navigated the turbulent...
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Episode 215: How to Develop Your Money Mindset with "She Grows Rich" Author Audrey Faust
Brilliantly Resilient
"Be involved in both your business and personal finances. 80% of women will die single. At some point in your life you are going to have to manage your finances. A man is not a financial plan." ~ Audrey Faust: Author of She Grows Rich; Expert CFO and Money Mindset Authority Are you in financial survival mode? Many women are. It's a mindset trap that many women, especially female entrepreneurs, can fall into. But it's possible to make the shift from survival mode to lasting wealth. Audrey Faust is the best-selling author of She Grows Rich. Audrey notes that "money is emotionally charged...
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Episode 214: How to Manage--and Change!--Chronic Pain with Pain Reprocessing Therapy and Patty Tashiro
Brilliantly Resilient
"Acute and chronic pain are processed in different parts of the brain. If you aren't healing and are still in pain, it's possible that your brain has established learned neural pathways that can continue to cause pain, which becomes chronic." Patty Tashiro ~ Is your brain keeping you in pain? The emotional responses we have to trauma--which often stay with us--can trigger the brain to continue to send a physical pain response in our bodies. Huh? Isn't pain caused by a physical issue in the body? Well, yes. Unless it isn't. Patty Tashiro experienced a mother's nightmare when her daughter and...
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Episode 213: How to Expand Diversity and Inclusion to Include Everyone, with Toby Mildon
Brilliantly Resilient
"There is diversity within diversity itself. Even people with shared disabilities have different experiences. We are all diverse. Diversity includes everyone." ~ Toby Mildon, Author of Inclusive Growth: Future-proof Your Business by Creating a Diverse Workspace, and Building Inclusivity: Making Your Workplace Equitable, Diverse and Inclusive How many people in the world are exactly like you? EXACTLY like you, no differences. The answer is no one. Every single person, because of countless factors including genetics, personal experiences, education, inherent skills--the list is...
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Episode 212: Advocating for Kids Without "a Voice," with TeamChild's Christina Sorenson
Brilliantly Resilient
The Maasai tribe of Africa greets one another by saying "How are the children?" We have to recognize that all the children in our community are our children. Christina Sorenson Attorney and Advocate for Foster Children at Christina Sorenson was in 15 different foster care homes from ages five to fifteen. Separated from her sister and eventually adopted at age fifteen, Christina has made it her life's work to provide legal and supportive aid for children and young adults in foster care. An attorney at in Seattle, WA, Christina has thoughtfully incorporated her own life experiences into...
info_outline~ Mary Fran Bontempo, Author 'From Broken to Brilliant: How to Live a Brilliantly Resilient Life'
It's 2025. How are you feeling about that?
I find the time right after Christmas to be a bit challenging. After a month of being jolly buying, planning, decorating, eating, drinking, visiting with family and friends, suddenly it's over. And sure, New Year's Eve is fun, but it's also accompanied by that feeling of 'Oh my God, now I have to improve myself again.'
Enter the dreaded New Year's Resolution.
I've never been a fan of New Year's Resolutions (caps to emphasize the IMPORTANCE of them!). Usually, we end up expecting gargantuan feats of ourselves that we would never ask of anyone else--often dooming us to failure. Given that I'm at an age where I'm tempted to dismiss the whole thing, I'd like to, but I can't. I'm committed to living a Brilliantly Resilient life. Quitting entirely is not in the game plan.
However, I do believe we must be more gentle with ourselves, in all of our human frailty. To that end, I've settled on two words for my 2025 resolution: Be Better.
By simply resolving to be better, I'm afforded endless opportunities each day to improve in small ways, which bundled together, can create profound change. Each time I attempt to be better, I am living the Brilliantly Resilient concept of taking small, imperfect actions to move forward. So much easier and more life-affirming than trying to remake myself, which, let's be honest, isn't going to happen. (I will, however, try to be better when driving behind some soul who seems to have forgotten where the gas pedal is. Patience is not my strong suit.)
As we enter 2025, be kinder to yourself, and resolve to Be Better. It's doable, and will create wins in every day. And do more that makes you happy. We all deserve that.
Finally, thank you with sincere gratitude for your support of me and Brilliantly Resilient. It means more than I can say to share this powerful message for good and I am beyond appreciative.
Tune in to hear more brilliance (yes, mine--remember to pat yourself on the back regularly, too!) on this week's podcast and check out the new book for a great start to 2025.
- For me the time right after Christmas is a little bit hard. We've been so jolly and spirited for a month with buying and planning and family and friends and cooking and the lights and everything else, and then all of a sudden it's over. And sure, New Year's Eve is fun. But it's also accompanied by that feeling of 'Oh my God, now I have to improve myself again.'
- If we can be a little bit better every time we catch ourselves doing something that we don't like about ourselves...we can decide that's not the way we want to live.
- Mindfulness means being where you are. Be in that moment and just in that moment, try to be better.
- Come up with little short questions. Am I being better right now? Is this what I really want for myself right now? Am I here where I am right now? Be here and be better, instead of thinking about remaking yourself.
- Look back through your calendar of the last year. And review that. See the events that you went to see the things that you did and look at the ones that really made you happy. (Thank you, Fran Hauser!)
- I hope you all had a fantastic holiday season. I hope that the new year is full of light and joy and love and purpose and health and happiness for all of us.
As we enter 2025, I thank you again and wish you every joy and blessing. Let's be Brilliantly Resilient together!
XO,
Mary Fran
Mary Fran Bontempo is an award-winning 2-time TEDx and Keynote speaker, workshop presenter, author, humorist and podcast host who teaches audiences to uncover their Brilliance and Resilience 15 minutes at a time. A sought-after speaker for ERGs, BRGs, DEI, conference and association events, Mary Fran is author of From Broken to Brilliant: How to Live a Brilliantly Resilient Life, The 15 Minute Master, The Woman’s Book of Dirty Words and co-founder of the life-changing program Brilliantly Resilient. To bring Mary Fran to your company or organization, visit www.brilliantlyresilient.net.