Unstoppable Mindset Michael Hingson

I have had the honor to talk with a number of career coaches, mindfulness advocates and experts as well as others who promote, in one way or another, introspection and self evaluation. Getting the opportunity on this episode to speak with Alicia Ramsdell who had considerable knowledge about all these subjects really puts many concepts into perspective. Alicia thought she wanted to be a veterinarian , but fairly quickly realized that, for her, animals was not a way to earn an income. She was, however, good in math and chose to begin a career in the executive recruiting industry where she worked for fifteen years.

In 2019 she left that field after deciding to take the leap to start her own business helping people to better understand themselves and their career choices. Her last four years of work not only have been personally and financially rewarding, but she found that working for herself in the Covid era worked well.

We talk about a number of topics including meditation, life choices, self analysis and introspection and what success really means. We discuss other things, but I will leave it to you to listen to hear everything. Near the end of our conversation we even learn why Alicia felt it was time to leave the executive career field and how difficult it was for her to really take the step to move on. I hope you enjoy our conversation. Lots of good snippets and lessons in life to hear.

About the Guest:

Alicia Ramsdell, a powerhouse career and mindfulness expert, TEDx speaker, and CEO of Mindful Career Path, LLC. With over 15 years of experience in Corporate America, Alicia has cultivated a life by design in Career Development roles, and is a Certified Career Services Provider, Global Career Development Facilitator, and certified in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Organizational Mindfulness.

Alicia provides invaluable insight into career development strategies, leveraging stress as a tool to elevate your life's work. She has three main priorities: captivating audiences as a keynote speaker, revolutionizing career development as a corporate partner for employees, and empowering individuals to achieve career fulfillment as a career coach. Her TEDx talk in York Beach, Maine, "Don’t be afraid to fail in the career of your dreams. Be afraid to succeed in the career of your nightmares," is an inspiring reminder to pursue your passions fearlessly.

As a Certified Career Services Provider (CCSP) and Global Career Development Facilitator (GCDF), Alicia provides a unique perspective on career development. Her focus on mindfulness, stress reduction, and career fulfillment sets her apart as an expert in the field.

Join Alicia on her mission to design fulfilling and mindful careers for all. Her experience in Corporate America and as a mindfulness expert gives her a unique perspective on career development. Whether you're an individual looking to achieve career fulfillment or a corporation looking to revolutionize your approach to career development, Alicia has the expertise to help you reach your goals.

Ways to connect with Jann:

TEDx Talk: https://youtu.be/bWCaTE0d2ww?si=EiJ77c2jjZtvwD0Z
Mindful Career Path’s Website: www.mindfulcareerpath.com
Alicia’s LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliciaramsdell/
Mindful Career Path’s LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mindful-career-path/
YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/@mindfulcareerpath
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Mindful.Career.Path
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mindful_Careers
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mindful.Career.Path/

About the Host:
Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.

Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon

I want to introduce you to Jann Weeratunga from South Africa who is our guest on this episode. Jann was born and grew up in Lundon. After working as a highway maintenance engineer for 10 years she moved to Sri Lanka where she married and lived for several years. Her husband passed away after they were married for four and a half years, but Jann continued to work and live there until she got the moving urge and ended up living in South Africa.
 
Jann has always had a deep interest in the para-Olympics. In 2012, while watching the closing ceremony of the London Paralympic Games, Jann was deeply moved by Sir Philip Craven's speech which included The tale of a young boy reading a book and recognizing a man with an eye patch, a hook for a hand, a parrot on his shoulder, and a wooden leg as an Olympian. This imagery sparked a transformative idea within her. Anyone recognize the man as a pirate? Jann did and began to write what is now a series of 10 children’s books about Polly the Parrot or Pirate. Jann will tell us Polly’s story and how this bird helped to create the Piralympics. This series is all about pirates, all of whom have disabilities and who compete in the “piralympics”.
 
To date, Jann has written over 40 books for children, some poetry and even books for adults. As she says, writing is a muscle that needs to be developed and exercised daily. This conversation to me is certainly quite inspirational and insightful for all. I hope you enjoy it.
 
About the Guest:
 
Jann Weeratunga is an author who firmly believes in the importance of representation and diversity, particularly for the 15% of the population who are often overlooked— the disabled community.
In 2012, while watching the closing ceremony of the London Paralympic Games, Jann was deeply moved by Sir Philip Craven's speech. The tale of a young boy reading a book and recognizing a man with an eye patch, a hook for a hand, a parrot on his shoulder, and a wooden leg as an Olympian sparked a transformative idea within her. This powerful moment gave birth to the unique concept and content of the Polly's Piralympics Series (Paralympics for Pirates). Through these books, Jann tackles important themes like disabilities, bullying, and cheating.
 
However, plagued by self-doubt, Jann's journey faced a roadblock until 2016, when a friend who pushed her to take a leap of faith, reminding her that she would never know unless she published her work. This encouragement marked the beginning of her real journey as an author and Polly’s Piralympics was launched in South Africa.
 
Jann's flagship series, Polly's Piralympics, has garnered tremendous success and continues to thrive, with the tenth book currently in the works. In March 2018, she established the Schools Reading Road Show, a non-profit organization aimed at enhancing literacy among primary school students in South Africa. Alongside her fellow authors, she embarked on a mission to visit schools in various regions, sharing inspiring stories, delivering motivational talks on important topics like "anti-bullying" and "it's okay to be different," and encouraging young learners to explore their own storytelling abilities.
 
Beyond her writing, Jann founded the Schools Reading Road Show, an organization that promotes literacy and encourages young learners to embrace diversity. She has visited schools, delivered motivational talks, and empowered children to tell their own stories.
 
Jann's impactful work extends to addressing conferences, conducting workshops, and participating in panels, all aimed at emphasizing the importance of representation and inclusivity. She continues to write Best Seller stories for children, while exploring different creative avenues for adults under her pen name, JE Gallery.
 
Her works have received several awards and nominations across Africa.
 
Recognized for her invaluable contributions to the literary landscape, Jann has spoken at the prestigious Embrace Head Teachers Confe

On this episode I have the pleasure of speaking with Kelly Campbell who is a trauma-informed leadership coach, speaker, facilitator, writer, and author. She also leads Consciousness Leaders—the world’s most diverse and equitable speakers’ agency. Kelly grew up in a home that, as she describes it, was more challenging than most. She tells us that even though she strived to be the perfect daughter by excelling at academics, sports, and other endeavors, she did not feel loved and, in fact, felt that she was “unlovable”. She will take us on her journey of learning how to accept the traumatic issues she faced and eventually learned how not only to articulate what happened to her, but also how she learned to recognize that she could learn to love herself.
 
Today, among other things, Kelly coaches leaders on how to better their lives by recognizing the traumas they face and have faced. As she tells us, most all of us have faced traumas whether we choose to recognize it or not. We learn the value of addressing issues and becoming better leaders and people at home, at work and throughout our entire life.
 
About the Guest:
 
Kelly L. Campbell (they/she) inspires revelation and responsibility in leaders across the globe. As a trauma-informed leadership coach, speaker, facilitator, writer, and author, they empower self-aware visionaries to correlate their past wounds to their leadership style, transforming the way they lead, live, and love. Her debut book, Heal to Lead: Revolutionizing Leadership through Trauma Healing (Wiley) will be released in April 2024.
 
They write for Entrepreneur, have written for Forbes, and offer exclusive content to their Substack community, “The New TLC: Trauma, Leadership, and Consciousness.” Early in their career, Kelly was the founder and CEO of a cause marketing agency and sold it in 2016, which led her to advise Fortune 50 corporations, non-profits, government organizations, and marketing and advertising agencies. They have hosted two top-rated podcasts since 2006—one on holistic health and wellness and the other on conscious leadership for marketing and advertising agency leaders.
 
A long-time conservationist, Kelly was trained by Al Gore as a Climate Reality Leader in 2017. Most recently, they became certified as a Reiki Level III Practitioner. Kelly’s vision is to empower more than half of humanity to heal its childhood trauma so that we may reimagine and rebuild the world together.
 
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Ways to connect with Kelly:
 
Book Pre-Order: https://klcampbell.com/heal-to-lead-book/ 
Website: https://klcampbell.com/ 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kelly.l.campbell 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellylcampbell/ 
Substack: https://kellylcampbell.substack.com/ 
Leadership Quiz: https://klcampbell.com/leadership/ 
Healing Resources: https://myhealingmenu.com
 
 
 
About the Host:
Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.
 
Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children’s Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association’s 2012 Hero Dog Awards.
 
https://michaelhingson.com
https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/
https://twitter.com/mhingson
https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/
 
accessiBe Links
https://accessibe.com/
https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe
https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/
 
https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/
 
 

Transcription Notes
“Upili program”? Yes and it isn’t even a misspelling. Our guest, Carla Birnberg will tell us all about Upili, where it comes from and what it is. Carla started life in Pittsburg, but nearly thirty years ago she ended up in Austin, TX. Prior to Austin she worked in North Carolina where she owned her own personal trainer business. She sold that company when she moved to Austin which was due to marriage.

Carla has always been quite the storyteller. Her Bachelors degree was in English Literature, but her mom convinced her to go to graduate school where she earned a Master’s degree in Educational Counseling. After her move to Austin she became a successful blogger and internet writer for a number of major brands.

Four years ago she, as she would say, pivoted to working with the Next Step Foundation to help persons with disabilities in East Africa.

We have quite the informative and interesting conversations about disabilities and how they are viewed in Kenya as opposed to the United States. Carla makes a strong case for why in reality the treatment of persons with disabilities between the two countries is not too different although in Kenya possibly the treatment of people with disabilities there is more visibly negative. Carla does say overall the views of us are pretty similar.

While you may hear some things discussed that have come up in other episodes of Unstoppable Mindset I think you will discover in Carla a person with a wealth of knowledge. Among other things, she describes how in Kenya where the Upili program is used, counselors with disabilities are brough into schools and organizations so the people there see good models to enrich and inspire them. This was a fun and wonderful conversation. I hope you enjoy it.

About the Guest:

Carla has dedicated her professional journey to cultivating connections, whether between individuals, places, or concepts. As a passionate advocate for amplifying the voices of marginalized communities, she most recently wove together her gift for ethical storytelling, her passion for uplifting others, and her academic experience/Master's degree in Educational Counseling to create the Upili program.
Upili, Kiswahili for secondary as in secondary schools, engages Counselors with Disabilities to provide group therapy for Students with Disabilities in Kenyan “special schools.” (In Kenya, Students with Disabilities are educated at “special schools” according to their disability, e.g., schools for the blind, schools for the deaf, etc.)
Youth with Disabilities are 10 times more likely to suffer from depression, especially in East Africa where stigmatization, marginalization and discrimination are still prevalent. The lack of early intervention of essential psychosocial support creates additional barriers that keep Persons with Disabilities from being able to obtain and maintain meaningful employment.
Next Step Foundation’s Upili Program addresses this pervasive mental health challenge by providing support for secondary school Students with Disabilities, their families, and communities. By meeting the psychosocial needs of students, training teachers, staff and peers to serve as “psychological first responders,” and offering support to parents and caregivers the Upili Program instills self-confidence, improves academic performance and provides the tools to successfully navigate future discrimination so that Youth with Disabilities can achieve economic independence.

In her recent role as the Chief Culture and Inclusion Officer at Stepwise Inc., Carla played a pivotal role in advancing impact sourcing initiatives. Stepwise, a frontrunner in the impact sourcing movement and the first B Corp certified company in East Africa, benefited from Carla's leadership in leveraging AI technology to empower marginalized groups, particularly individuals with disabilities and young women, enabling their full participation in the digital economy.

Driven by a commitment t

In Episode 156 I had the honor to speak with Garett Tomasek, U.S. leader of Best Buddies. Garett was introduced to me and the Unstoppable Mindset by accessiBe’s own Sheldon Lewis, also a past guest on the podcast. Sheldon also introduced me to an incredible woman who is a Best Buddy in Canada. Meet Jessica Rotolo who is a talented and fearless 25-year-old model, artist, self-advocate, actor and dancer, who has a passion for performing on film and stage. Jessica was born with Downs Syndrome. I empathize a great deal as my parents, like Jessica’s, were told that she would be a burden on them. As with my parents, Jessica’s parents, especially her mom, fiercely opposed the idea that their daughter could not grow up to do whatever she wanted with her life. Along the way, Jessica was introduced to Best Buddies Canada where she met one of her pier buddies, Lauren Abela.

Under the Best Buddies program, a Best Buddy like Jessica gets a new “pier buddy” every year. These people are volunteers who choose to become friends and mentors for persons with development or intellectual disabilities. In the case of Lauren and Jessica, their relationship flourished, and they became and still are clearly best friends, and Jessica’s mom, Dorlean is also part of the team. Mom refers to herself as Jessica’s Momager and prefers to work behind the scenes. However, she clearly is a significant part of the conversation you get to experience on this episode.

Clearly these three are an unstoppable force. Lauren is a leader in Best Buddies and Jessica is an international ambassador for the program. Check out this episode and be ready to be inspired and encouraged.

About the Guest:

Jessica Rotolo
Jessica is a talented and fearless 25-year-old model, artist, self-advocate, actor and dancer, who has a passion for performing on film and stage. Jessica was born with Down syndrome and is a role model for her community as well as an Ambassador for DramaWay, Best Buddies Canada and Best Buddies International. As the recipient of several awards, Jessica has also been recognized in the Ontario Legislative Assembly and the Canadian House of Commons for her outstanding international commitment in advocating and fundraising for her Down Syndrome community. She has performed in several musical drama productions throughout her career at DramaWay, a Toronto drama company serving the All-Abilities community. She has been a guest on several Canadian News Stations and Talk Shows. She has appeared in numerous campaigns for the Canadian Down Syndrome Society and a Documentary called “Employable Me Canada” not to mention a number of other fashion shows and photo shoots, including the Fashion Arts Toronto show and with designer 3ndolith.

Dorlean Rotolo

As her “Momager,” Dorlean is committed to supporting her daughter, Jessica, in all aspects of her career of modeling, acting, dancing and her advocacy for Best Buddies Canada, Best Buddies International and the Down syndrome community at large.

Lauren Abela

Lauren is a recent psychology graduate and now Student Recruitment Officer at the University of Guelph-Humber. She was first introduced to Best Buddies in high school at St. Jean de Brebeuf in Vaughan, Canada. Lauren fell in love with the atmosphere and purpose of the organization, and soon took on greater leadership roles including co-founding her own chapter with Jessica and becoming Canada’s first Global Ambassadors for Best Buddies together. Because of Jessica, Lauren chose her thesis research topic to be called, “Down Syndrome Acceptance: Changing Attitudes Through Interventions.” Through her research, she found a positive relationship between disability education and inclusionary attitudes. Lauren is grateful to have attended university on a full scholarship as a Founders’ Academic Merit Scholarship recipient, and made the most of her last 4 years as an active member in the community. Upon graduating, she received her school’s top

In August, 2023 I had the opportunity to meet through LinkedIn Iris Yuning Ye. Iris spent the first 20 years of her life growing up in Northern China. She came to the U.S. to spend her junior college year at the University of California at Berkley. She also spent her senior year here and interned to help make that happen.
 
After returning to China for a bit she came back to the States to work toward her Master’s degree at the University of Michigan.
 
This episode was especially fun for me and I hope it will be the same for you because of Iris’ fervent attitude about being curious and always wanting to learn. Her reoccurring theme through our time on this episode is that people should work to be more curious and understanding of others. Iris will tell you about how she became involved with the Prisoners Literature Project and how that has opened her mind to so many things she never thought about before.
 
Iris is quite engaging, and her words are very thought provoking. I hope you enjoy this episode. Please let me know what you think. Also, feel free to reach out to Iris.
 
About the Guest:
 
Iris Yuning Ye advocates for education inequity for marginalized communities. She had been actively led and involved in marginalized communities education, ranging from post-release inmates data science bootcamp instructor to adaptive and inclusive strength training.

Born and raised in the northern part of China, she experienced the life-changing impact education brought to her. With a pure passion and curiosity of exploring different education systems, she moved from Beijing to Berkeley in college, where she started to be involved in Prisoners Literature Project and Defy Ventures. It was through those years Iris was affirmed with the passion in helping others to achieve more through education. She is now pursuing her Master degree at University of Michigan, focusing on Human-Computer Interaction and pursuing Graduate Teaching Certificate.  

As a Project Leader at Prisoners Literature Project and Community Instructor at Defy Ventures, she was fortunate and privileged to have worked with amazing inmates who had much passion in learning new knowledge. She founded data bootcamp that focuses on equipping post-release inmates with data skills that can secure rewarding and recognizing jobs for them. In 2020, she also developed a family education program for Child & Family Services of Northwestern Michigan that engaged 50+ families during Covid. She expanded education horizon to college during graduate school, and she is now a Graduate Student Instructor at University of Michigan. In the Enriching Scholarship 2023 Conference, she was invited as a speaker talking about “bridging the gap between college and career”.

Iris also believes in the power of physical education. She is an NSCA (National Strength and Conditioning Association) Certified Personal Trainer. AdaptX-Certified Inclusive and Adaptive coach.
 
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Ways to connect with Iris:
 
LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/irisyn-ye/ 
 
 
 
About the Host:
Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.
 
Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children’s Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association’s 2012 Hero Dog Awards.
 
https://michaelhingson.com
https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/
https://twitter.com/mhingson
https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhing