Monthly Archives: August 2013

Episode 39: Liberating Genius | Angela Maiers from AngelaMaiers.com

Angela Maiers has a lot of experience teaching students and educators on how to build systems and environments that promote learning and education.  She has many educational goals, but one of her favorite is liberating genius.  Listen to Episode 39 of the Defining Success Podcast to learn how Angela Maiers is helping to liberate the genius of others.

Angela Maiers Liberating Genius Defining Success Podcast Zeb Welborn

Angela Maiers

Angela Maiers is a teacher, educator, author and consultant.  She has spent the past 22 years working diligently to help learners of all ages succeed by recognizing their powers as readers, writers and global communicators.  Whether she’s addressing an auditorium full of educators or sitting on the floor helping first graders find their way through the pages of a good book, Angela’s message is the same – literacy changes lives.

Angela got in education because she knew she was destined to be an educator.  She was on the path to become a doctor and was working four different jobs, all of which had to do with children and someone asked her why she didn’t choose education. Angela realized that education was her calling and took up the cause.

She has always been passionate about learning, how the brain works and how to promote learning.  It compelled her to never look back and pursue how to help others learns.

Angela’s background was in linguistics, reading and writing and social media was just an extension of that to her.  She began blog writing to explore her own writing and eventually began using her blog for educational purposes.  She encountered a very passionate online writing community and social media and Twitter have always help her to increase her literacy.

Social media has revolutionized communication and it’s fascinating to see how our world has changed.  One thing that Angela suggests is that, for educators, we constantly promote the tools when we should be promoting the people.  Social media allows for conversation and discussion on a wide variety of topics and creates new ideas for people moving forward.

By communicating with others on social media tools, you not only get to learn from passionate, highly-qualified educators, but you get to learn with them and that process is a “game-changing” process.  When you talk about learning it doesn’t matter how you do it, but once you’re in the communities you don’t really talk about the tools, you talk about the community.

Angela Maiers Teaching Students Liberating Genius Defining Success Podcast with Zeb Welborn

Angela Maiers

Angela Maier’s passion and her main goal in life is liberating genius.  It doesn’t matter what room she is in or who she is speaking in front of, Angela works hard to unleash the potential of not just the individuals in the room, but in the room as a whole.  Your job is not just to unleash the genius of the individual but to unlock the genius that exists collectively in the room.

Right now we see individuals that are doing amazing things, but are we liberating genius in our collective intelligence, which is the wisdom of the community. The only way you can leverage the collective community is to have someone who can lead the community and we are just on the edge of unleashing this potential.

Several years ago, Angela wrote a book on how to create an innovative, passion-based culture, where she used models like Google, FedEx and 3M, companies that have created a culture of innovation.  Many of these companies give their employees the opportunity to work on something they were passionate about for 20% of the time they were at work.

Angela applied this system in the classroom and first began teaching students about passion and learning about a cause, project or subject.  Once students began to connect with other communities to focus on learning a topic, she then introduced ways to create collective action in order to make changes for the better.  These changes were usually associated with empathy and compassion for the cause.

One question they would ask is “What breaks your heart about that?”  And then they would take collective action to fix the problem and change the world. As a result, Angela started a non-profit called Choose to Matter to help change the world.  She would then help students use social media to connect with organizations that could help them accomplish their goals.

Twitter is Angela’s favorite tool to get more of the information she needs and she also is able to use it to connect with other people.  Twitter has so many different functions for Angela.  It’s her news source.  Her way to see what’s going on in her industry.  Her way to connect with experts, family and friends. And her way to engage others more authentically in her cause.

When kids want to learn something, kids are not necessarily learning in the classroom anymore.  They are taking their learning online.  One great example of this is NASA, who has created a tool kit which students can go on to learn and get information from NASA on a wide range of topics.  Schools that don’t take advantage of these resources than they will become obsolete.

Right now, Angela Maiers is working on a new partnership to provide students with access to real-time information and mentors which will help to inspire the young generations to pursue their dreams.  Angela has just solidified a partnership with what she calls living legends to help mentor young students who have made the decision to matter.  It’s an exclusive network of four and five-star generals and medal of honor winners and they want to be able to pass their experience and expertise onto the next generation.

Last year, Angela Maiers wrote a book called Habitudes and wanted to share and show that these habitudes matter.  There are classrooms all over the country are adopting these habitudes.  And this is a common language of habitudes.

Angela feels like every day is a wow day. Being passionate as a learner and having platforms to share her learning out loud has attracted amazing individuals into her room. She’s learning from educators, students, and leaders and every single day is an exciting adventure.

There hasn’t been one day since Angela started working on the web that she hasn’t had a wow moment.  For Angela, a wow moment means worthy of the world and it’s when you encounter something that makes you stop and take notice.  That is something worth sharing with the world.

One thing that Angela would like to instill upon our listeners is that there is genius everywhere.  Every person has some form of genius and as individuals we need to recognize what genius each person possesses and incorporate that into our network and our room to make our communities smarter and better at solving our problems.

According to Angela, if you have a discussion with 5 year olds and ask them if they think they are geniuses and have something to offer to the world, every student raises their hand.  Every year past the age of five, the percentage drops dramatically.  Every Google employee believes that they are essential because they have used the skill set of their employees and they celebrate those successes.  In order to make change, it’s a culture-shift, not a mind-shift.

There are strides and major efforts made to change the dynamics of the current classroom. The idea of being child-centered and the idea that every student needs to learn everything at the same rate are two completely different narratives.  Angela thinks we need to shift the conversation and right now the conversation is around standards and directives and it’s changing.

Angela gave a TED Talk back in 2011 on You Matter.  And when everyone realizes that they matter, the world changes.

You Matter Choose to Matter TED Talk Angela Maiers Defining Success Podcast Zeb Welborn Liberating Genius

Angela Maiers

Engaging Discussion Questions:

  • If you went into every interaction and discussion as if you had the potential to change the world how would you act?
  • Have you had a WOW (Worthy of the World Moment) lately?  If so, share it with us.

Links to Great Stuff:

  • AngelaMaiers.com – “My life path has always been about teaching and communication. My twenty years as an educator and my passionate pursuit of literacy and learning, gave me the healthy dose of courage and skills that have led me through a wonderful variety of experiences, including classroom and University teaching, instructional coaching, research, writing, publishing, corporate training, and starting my own business.”
  • Google – “Since the beginning, we’ve focused on providing the best user experience possible. Whether we’re designing a new Internet browser or a new tweak to the look of the homepage, we take great care to ensure that they will ultimately serve you, rather than our own internal goal or bottom line.”
  • FedEx – “FedEx Corporation provides customers and businesses worldwide with a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and business services. With annual revenues of $44 billion, the company offers integrated business applications through operating companies competing collectively and managed collaboratively, under the respected FedEx brand. Consistently ranked among the world’s most admired and trusted employers, FedEx inspires its more than 300,000 team members to remain “absolutely, positively” focused on safety, the highest ethical and professional standards and the needs of their customers and communities.”
  • 3M – “3M is a global innovation company that never stops inventing. Over the years, our innovations have improved daily life for hundreds of millions of people all over the world. We have made driving at night easier, made buildings safer, and made consumer electronics lighter, less energy-intensive and less harmful to the environment. We even helped put a man on the moon. Every day at 3M, one idea always leads to the next, igniting momentum to make progress possible around the world.”
  • TED Talks – “TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with two annual conferences — the TED Conference and TEDGlobal — TED includes the award-winning TED Talks video site, the Open Translation Project and TED Conversations, the inspiring TED Fellows and TEDx programs, and the annual TED Prize.”
  • NASA – “NASA’s vision: To reach for new heights and reveal the unknown so that what we do and learn will benefit all humankind.”

Success Quotes:

  • “Good is the enemy of great.” – Jim Collins
  • “When you know that what you are doing is what you were meant to do, not what you like to do.”
  • “Passion and purpose leads you to significance.”
  • “The greatest fear we have is the fear of insignificance.”
  • “Success is the intersection of passion and purpose.”
  • “This is the most extraordinary time in human history to be alive.”
  • “I am fearless and I am courageous and I am more passionate than I’ve ever been.”
  • “I have a network that will not let me fail and I have never felt that in the 25 years of teaching.”
  • “The smartest person in the room, is the room.”
  • “If you keep putting people first, there is no difference between online and offline interactions.”
  • “The people who have always led us offline and online have always been readers and writers.”
  • “The extensions of social media was never a technology thing to me, it was just a natural progression of reading, writing and literacy.”

Special Requests:

Please sign up for the Defining Success Podcast Newsletter for information on upcoming interviews, reminders of previous interviews and updates on the guests we’ve had on the show and Welborn Media.

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Greenskeeper.org Golf Tournament at Malibu Golf Club

Johnny GK, aka Johnny Hakim, the owner of Greenskeeper.org invited me to play in a Greenskeeper.org Golf Tournament on Saturday, July 27 at Malibu Golf Club.  He paired me up with former Defining Success Podcast guest, Jay Miller and a new friend of his, Alexandra O’Laughlin.

Zeb Welborn, Jay Miller, Alexandra O'Laughlin and Johnny Hakim at a Greenskeeper.org Golf Tournament at Malibu Golf Club

Greenskeeper.org Golf Tournament

You may remember Johnny Hakim and Jay Miller as previous guests on the Defining Success Podcast.  Johnny Hakim is the owner of Greenskeeper.org and if you’re a golfer, I strongly encourage you to check them out.

Greenskeeper.org provides a variety of services including: golf course information, score/index tracking, maintenance and aeration alerts, schedules golf outings and gives golfers an opportunity to socialize and connect with one another online.

Jay Miller is the Director of Business Development for Golf Card International and he and I just finalized plans to offer a free 3-month trial membership to Golf Card International for anyone who is associated with 19th Hole Media.  If you’re interested in getting your FREE golf card, please go here – http://19thholemedia.com/special-offer-free-membership-to-golf-card-international-sign-up-for-the-19th-hole/

Alexandra O’Laughlin is a collegiate level golfer and successful model.  She plans on working in the golf industry for years to come, perhaps working for the Golf Channel or reporting on golf for television.

Almost a Double Eagle, Albatross at a Greenskeeper.org Golf Tournament

Almost a Double Eagle

We had a great time at the tournament and it was a great success.  I even almost had a double eagle with the ball lending centimeters from the hole, leaving me with a three foot putt for eagle which I made.  It’s always a great time to get in a round of golf with successful people, especially three golfers whom I admire and get along with really well.

After being a guest on the Defining Success Podcast, Johnny Hakim and I have decided to write a book for golf course owners, and general managers on how to use social media to reach more golfers and encourage golfers to play golf more often.  We have been working feverishly and hope to be done with the book within the next couple of months.

Stay tuned for more exciting news from Greenskeeper.org and Welborn Media in our next Defining Success Podcast newsletter!

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Episode 38: Having Multiple Passions is Okay! | Eighty Bug from 80bug.com

You may have noticed the change to our theme music this week on the Defining Success Podcast.  We have our guest for Episode 38 of the Defining Success Podcast to thank for that.  Eighty Bug is big into music, dieting, puppetry and archery and is here to show you that having multiple passions is okay!

Eighty Bug 80Bug has multiple passions. Listen to her interview with Zeb Welborn on the Defining Success Podcast

Eighty Bug

Eighty Bug is a singer, songwriter, DJ, arranger and producer.  She has crossed genres from pop, hip-hop, soul, R&B, rock, country, electronica, downtempo, and dance music with her unique southern soulful voice and electronica influence.  She’s extremely active and knowledgeable about a wide range of subjects.

Eighty was born in Camp Pendleton in California and she was always on the road and went to 18 different schools as she was growing up.  She was quite an observer and would learn to observe others and assimilate into their culture.  She has lived in Atlanta, Seattle, L.A., San Francisco and Brooklyn.

Music has always been in Eighty’s blood.  Early on in her career, she was a signed artist and since then has written music that has appeared in music and films.  As a musician, you’re traveling . . . You play music, sleep and eat.

Aside from music, Eighty loves to eat and loves educating others on the uses of food and incorporating them into your diet.  She has been able to travel all over the world because of her music and has developed her culinary skills along the way.

Eighty has opened for bands that she’s loved including Run DMC and Lupe Fiasco.  She’s gotten lots of placement in television shows.  One of the pieces she wrote appeared on an MTV show and it was a very heartfelt emotional song and helped to connect people to the story of the disaster that occurred in New Orleans.

When Eighty writes new music it inspires her.  Anything can happen with her music and that’s what she loves the most . . . the creative process of writing a new song.

She used to work for a band called Jupiter Rising and she wrote this song called Hero, which is one of her favorite songs and got picked up by an Oprah charity, the International Women’s Museum which used it as their theme song.  When she creates music, it’s not about money or fame, it’s about writing songs that brings blessings or hopes for other people and their lives.

The International Women’s Museum finds women artists around the world and works to display their art to others.

Eighty is also a puppeteer.  She began working with puppets as a young child and she made lots of different characters.  She worked for Disney in the character department and got picked up to be a puppeteer.  She also had an opportunity to work for Jim Henson and worked with some of the best puppeteers in the world.

The coolest thing about puppeteering to Eighty is playing other characters.  Others may not believe it, but Eighty is very introverted and she loves playing a character and thinks it’s very cool to play another character and use that to connect with other people.

Eighty loves to eat good things and if it doesn’t taste good, she’s not going to eat it.  And when she’s done eating it she wants to feel good.  Her motivation is to make food that tastes good and makes her feel good afterwards.  Her passion for eating drove her to start the Knife and the Spoon food blog where she educates others on having the proper diet.

The best thing Eighty enjoys is having great communication with her friends and building upon that every day.  Her multiple passions allow her to express herself and share experiences with her friends.

Eighty has made a lot of poor choices in the music business and she’s been through a lot of the trials and tribulations that the music industry has, but she’s become a better person for it.

DJ Josh One and Eighty worked together to create a new song which is appearing in some Microsoft’s upcoming advertising campaign.  They released a song called Chasing Rainbows and they also wrote another song called Universal and posted it on iTunes.  One of the Microsoft people heard the song, loved it, and are planning on using it.

Eighty Bug (80Bug) appeared on the Defining Success Podcast with Zeb Welborn. Multiple Passions.

Eighty Bug

Engaging Discussion Questions:

  • What are you passionate about?
  • Do you have multiple passions?

Links to Great Stuff:

  • 80bug.com – Welcome to Dj80.com and 80bug.com, home of 86 Productions. Here you can read about, listen to and watch the progression of artist 80 Bug – from singer, songwriter and DJ to topline/melody writer, arranger and producer. Dj80bugg has crossed genres from pop, hip hop, soul, RnB, rock, country, electronica and downtempo to dance music with her unique southern soulful voice and electronica influences.
  • Microsoft – “As a company, and as individuals, we value integrity, honesty, openness, personal excellence, constructive self-criticism, continual self-improvement, and mutual respect. We are committed to our customers and partners and have a passion for technology. We take on big challenges, and pride ourselves on seeing them through. We hold ourselves accountable to our customers, shareholders, partners, and employees by honoring our commitments, providing results, and striving for the highest quality.”
  • Creative Minds & Visions – Creative Minds & Visions was established to help people live the creative life by developing a clothing brand that promotes artists, musicians and those in the entertainment industry.

Success Quotes:

  • “It’s all good in the end and if it’s not good, it’s not the end.”
  • “Success is waking up every day and liking yourself.”
  • “Keep your mouth shut.  Think before you speak.”
  • “Think about the potential impact that what you say has.”
  • “Be thoughtful in your process.”
  • “Life loops when you make the same choices.” – Will I Am
  • “Leave yourself open to the possibility of anything.”
  • “No matter where you go, there you are.”

Special Requests:

  • Listen to Universal by 80Bug in iTunes.
  • Share your thoughts with us about the new intro music that Eighty created for us.
Eighty Bug 80Bug Defining Success Podcast Zeb Welborn Universal Microsoft Multiple Passiona

Eighty Bug

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New Theme Song – SUCCESS by Eighty Bug

Zebs Theme (success)

Our guest Eighty Bug is overflowing with creativity. She saw the opportunity to craft a custom theme song for us and we can not express how much we love the new sound. We love that she takes her talents and passions and when she sees an opportunity to help someone with those skills she just does it. Thank you so much Eighty!

Eighty Bug 80Bug Defining Success Podcast Zeb Welborn Universal Microsoft Multiple Passiona

Eighty Bug

We can’t tell you how cool it was when Eighty offered to create our NEW theme song and even cooler when we got to hear the finished product.  We absolutely love the NEW theme song and would love to hear your thoughts on it as well.  Definitely check out Eighty’s music in iTunes and be sure to check out her website – http://www.80bug.com/.

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Episode 37: Balancing Your Work and Personal Life | Alex Navas from AlexNavas.com

Alex Navas helps people and business owners determine what is important in their business and personal lives. It’s not easy balancing your work and personal life.  The most successful people are able to find a healthy balance between the two where they are able to accomplish a lot at work, but not to the detriment of their families.  Learn more from Alex on business and what it takes to be successful in Episode 37 of the Defining Success Podcast.

Alex Navas Balancing Your Business and Personal Life Defining Success Podcast with Zeb Welborn

Alex Navas

Alex Navas is nationally recognized for his financial expertise and exceptional small business marketing methods.  He has been active in finance, marketing, sales and personal development for 10 years.  He is now an energetic and charismatic speaker, trainer and business coach.

Alex started his entrepreneurial career installing car stereos for his friends and from that point on he knew he was destined for a life in business.  At 21 years old he started his first business, a mortgage company.  He and his wife did really well in the mortgage industry and he learned his passion was helping other business owners become successful by holding bootcamps for real estate agents.

Alex helps businesses by taking a look at their assets.  When he explains assets he means the positive things you have in your business.  After analyzing your assets, Alex can point to some opportunities you’re missing out on which could help you grow your business.

By understanding where a business is at, Alex can help businesses expand faster using less resources.  A lot of times success online depends upon taking advantage of the right opportunities and being able to identify those opportunities is critical to the success of any business.

A lot of entrepreneurs make decisions based on illusions.  A common challenge entrepreneurs make is they think they know the answer about something before the event even takes place without acting on it first.

Their are a few key things to achieve exponential growth.  Your mindset is important to the success of any business owner.  One of the key ways to grow exponentially is by choosing who you’re going to serve, because it gives you the opportunity to serve who you were not meant to serve.

Alex owns the Christian Business Academy and purposefully narrowed his focus because he knew that he was meant to serve those people.  In return, it has become easier for him to attract the clients that he wants because they are attracted to his purpose and mission.

One of the things that Alex is really good at is creating profitable partnerships and he works with a lot of coaches and consultants and he helps them leverage what they’re doing.  Alex created an online training program with another business coach in order to help people create experts in the industry.

When Alex was running his mortgage company, he was working from 7am to 11pm.  One day he was sitting with his son and he realized that his business was taking him away from his family and he vowed not to let that happen.  We’re passing up opportunities to say that some day we’ll have time to spend with our family.  Balancing your work and personal life is critical to the happiness of an individual.

Alex has seen so many successful people, but their personal lives are in shambles.

Most business owners are overwhelmed and overworked. Most business owners are doing way too much work.  Once you get focused and narrow down your goals then it becomes easier to achieve your goals and you’re doing less work.  No matter what Alex does at work he thinks about the people he’s serving and how he can help them.

Balancing Your Business and Personal Life, Alex Navas on the Defining Success Podcast

Alex Navas

Engaging Discussion Questions:

  • How important is balancing your work and personal life?
  • What is more important?  Your business or your family and friends?
  • Who is the target market for your business?  Why?

Links to Great Stuff:

  • Alex Navas – “Whether you already know who I am or not, I’m ultimately here to serve you and I have a lot to tell you that will shed some light on who I am and how I can help you experience more joy, happiness and fulfillment in your life and your business.”
  • Christian Business Academy – “C.B.A. (Christian Business Academy) was founded to gather Christian entrepreneurs, business owners and professionals and empower them to create more fulfilling, profitable and purposeful businesses through the Word of God in order to create lasting change around the world using their businesses as the catalyst.”

Success Quotes:

  • “When you have fun in your business, you’re never working.”
  • “We all have a reason why we’re here beyond us.”
  • “Success comes much easier when you’re having fun and operating in your purpose.”
  • “85% of business owners are doing way too much.”
  • “It’s a lot easier to work with what you have than to start from scratch.”

Special Requests:

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Two Eggs Any Style

What is Two Eggs Any Style?

To those of you that are regular listeners of the Defining Success Podcast you may know that we have a very talented man who is working behind the scenes to help make the Defining Success Podcast so successful.

Mike Jimenez is the engineer/editor of The Defining Success Podcast.

Mike works tirelessly behind the scenes to edit the podcasts and make sure the sound quality is the best it possibly can be.  While he’s not working for us he’s working on a variety of other projects.

One of his biggest projects is an upcoming independent film titled, Two Eggs Any Style.  Mike worked on the script for the film which takes place in an American desert diner.  The movie tells overlapping stories of comedy, drama, and death in the lives of the patrons and one waitress.

Two Eggs Any Style, Mike Jimenez and the Defining Success Podcast

Two Eggs Any Style

The director and producers are crowdsourcing in order to fund the film which they plan on shooting in November. With your help we can make a great film and get it out for the world to see. More details and a list of donation incentives can be found on the fundraising page: www.indiegogo.com/projects/two-eggs-any-style/

You can also check out Mike in another film he was able to act in called Taaape – He’s the one who really enjoys tape – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoAP7HzH9tM

If you love the Defining Success Podcast, please do whatever you can to help Mike Jimenez and his crowdsourcing project to help him and his friends in their goal to make the full-length feature film, Two Eggs Any Style.  Mike is a great guy and does so much to make the Defining Success Podcast possible.  Any help would be greatly appreciated . . . If you donate enough you can even be in the movie!

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