Positive Blatherings Podcast

ROC Vox Podcast Network
  • 5.0 (7)
  • Spirituality
  • Updated Semiweekly

Scott "Fitz" is a radio host in Rochester, NY and a filmmaker who has battled depression and celebrates sobriety. His podcast is his attempt to surround himself with positive successful people and to just have an organic conversation. Join him as he takes an organic approach to the standard interview. No preparation, no script. Letting the conversation have a mind of its own: a Blathering.

  1. 2d ago

    Sarina Morales | From ESPN to the Bronx to WeTheHobby, and Every Near-Death Experience in Between

    Sarina Morales spent years as an ESPN anchor and Los Angeles Rams sideline reporter before Bally Sports went bankrupt, she became a single mother, and everything she had built changed at once. She surveyed what came next, found WeTheHobby, and landed in the one place where every thread of her career finally connected. In this episode she gets into the psychological techniques she developed for drawing out reluctant NFL players, the framework she built for grieving without getting stuck, why she argued at Newhouse in 2004 that content belongs on YouTube and Facebook before either platform supported video, the near-death experiences that explain why she still has what she calls zest for life, and the Bronx baseball story she used to get into Syracuse, where a 15-year-old girl showed up to practice on Monday after an entire opposing team sat down on the field to protest her. CONNECT Sarina Morales on Instagram → @moralesmorales WeTheHobby → https://wethehobby.com ROC Vox → https://rocvox.com

    1h 9m

  2. 3d ago

    Maria Pascucci-Maciejewski | Recovering Perfectionist: Breakdown, Survival, and Bouncing Back

    Maria Pascucci-Maciejewski spent over 20 years helping others manage perfectionism and anxiety. She launched a national speaking business at 27, wrote a book, delivered a TEDx talk, and coached hundreds of students through the hidden costs of needing to be perfect. In the summer of 2024, it all caught up with her. In this episode she gets into the childhood bullying that became perfectionism, the 3.92 GPA that came with panic attacks in college bathrooms, and why none of it was enough to stop a complete nervous system breakdown, a suicide attempt, and 34 days in a psychiatric hospital over the holidays. She also talks about what actually pulled her back, why nutrition belongs in every mental health conversation, and what she is building now. CONNECT You Can Bounce Back → https://youcanbounceback.com Campus Calm → https://campuscalm.com ROC Vox → https://rocvox.com New episodes every Tuesday. Recorded at ROC Vox Recording & Production in Pittsford, NY. Learn more at https://rocvox.com

    1h 8m

  3. Jun 9

    Coach Jim Johnson | Why Relationships Win You Championships

    (00:00:00) Welcome to ROC Vox — Introducing Coach Jim Johnson (00:01:03) Getting Cut and Getting Fired — A Humbling Start to Coaching (00:02:45) Becoming a Leadership Junkie — Zig Ziglar Jim Rohn and the Personal Growth Pivot (00:06:06) The One-Hit Wonder Problem — Staying at the Top Is Harder Than Getting There (00:07:03) Lead by Respect Not Fear — The Wrong Way to Lead (00:08:36) Relationships Relationships Relationships — The Three Rs of Leadership (00:10:06) The Intentional Trust Plan Most Leaders Have Never Built (00:11:24) Always On Stage — Leading by Example and the Tie Story (00:17:48) Advice for New Coaches — Are You In It for the Right Reasons? (00:21:06) How Coaching Young People Has Changed in 35 Years (00:23:51) Purpose Self-Reflection and Personal Mission Statements (00:25:21) The J-Mac Story — February 15 2006 and the Speech Career It Started (00:27:04) Become the Chief Storyteller — Warnings Examples and Reading the Room (00:34:42) Staying Fresh — Intentional Personal Growth and Servant Leadership (00:43:15) What's Next — Books Podcast and How to Find Coach Jim Johnson Coach Jim Johnson spent 35 years coaching high school basketball in Rochester with 428 wins, three programs turned around, and one game on February 15, 2006 that landed him in the Oval Office. In this episode, he gets into what it actually looks like to build trust on purpose, why the leaders who sustain success are doing something most teams never think about, and how the lessons from a gym floor translate directly into any room where someone's trying to lead people. CONNECT Coach Jim Johnson → https://coachjimjohnson.com  ROC Vox → https://rocvox.com New episodes every Tuesday.  Recorded at ROC Vox Recording & Production in Bushnell's Basin, NY. Learn more at https://rocvox.com.

    48 min

  4. Jun 2

    Debra Ross | Mobilizing for Totality: How an Eclipse Built a Community

    (00:00:00) Cold Open: What is the Eclipse Effect? (00:00:45) Welcome Back and the Non-Conformist Oath (00:03:47) Ella's Five-Year Plan and the 2017 Missouri Eclipse (00:06:00) Building Rochester's Eclipse Task force: 750 Volunteers, No Budget (00:12:00) Co-Chairing the National Eclipse Task Force (00:14:27) The Dreadful Lack of Agency and What To Do About It (00:17:21) Bonding vs. Bridging: The Two Kinds of Social Capital (00:21:09) The Network Graph: Making Invisible Connections Visible (00:28:51) Stories From the National Eclipse Effort (00:39:09) On Failure, Grade, and Raising Kids Outside the System Deborah Ross watched the 2017 solar eclipse from a field in Kimmswick, Missouri and came home convinced of two things: Rochester needed to be ready for 2024, and it was going to be her job to make that happen. What she built with 750 volunteers, no budget, and six years of monthly meetings became both a defining moment for this region and the foundation of a book. In this episode, she breaks down how an eclipse becomes a community organizing tool, what servant leadership actually looks like when you're asking hundreds of people to work for free, and why the principles behind The Eclipse Effect apply to any catalyst, a natural disaster, a federal funding cut, or the Olympics coming to your town.  CONNECT  The Eclipse Effect → https://theeclipseeffect.com Kids Out and About → https://kidsoutandabout.com ROC Vox → https://rocvox.com New episodes every Tuesday. Recorded at ROC Vox Recording & Production in Pittsford, NY. Learn more at https://rocvox.com

    45 min

  5. May 19

    Melissa Suchodolski | Firing Bad Clients and Building Great People

    Melissa Suchodolski told someone once that getting into construction was "absurd." That was 25 years ago. Today, she runs USC Builds, a 140-person Rochester contracting firm, and a workforce development nonprofit that Governor Hochul wants to replicate across New York State. In this episode, she gets into what it actually looks like to build a company culture most firms won't even try, what it cost to fire a client who represented a third of her annual revenue, and why the construction industry's labor crisis is a competitive advantage for anyone who started this work early. CHAPTERS 00:12 Welcome and the Non-Conformist Oath 01:09 How Fitz and Melissa Met at the Jewish Home of Rochester 11:25 Why More Americans Should Travel Abroad 12:23 Meet USC Builds: 25 Years Building People Through Construction 13:31 From History Major to Construction President 16:26 Why a Skilled Trade Can Never Be Taken Away 19:33 What a Trauma-Informed Workplace Looks Like in Construction 27:43 Why She Fired Her Second-Biggest Client Over Racism on the Job Site 30:42 The Construction Labor Crisis and Who's Already Positioned to Win 34:39 Ascend Workforce Solutions and the Governor's Attention 41:20 Trauma as a Superpower 42:51 This or That CONNECT USC Builds → https://uscbuilds.com ROC Vox → https://rocvox.com New episodes every Tuesday. Recorded at ROC Vox Recording & Production in Pittsford, NY. Learn more at https://rocvox.com.

    51 min

  6. May 12

    Chad Marks | He Wrote The Argument That Freed Thousands From His Cell

    Chad Marks was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison at 24 years old — and from his cell, he wrote the legal argument that freed thousands. Chad Marks — Rochester native, published author, paralegal, and founder of Blood on the Razor Wire — joins Fitz at ROC Vox to tell the full story: growing up poor on Lyle Avenue, the drug dealing, the 40-year federal sentence, the First Step Act argument that no attorney believed in, and what he's built since walking out — a paralegal practice, a sober living house, a YouTube channel, a book, and a possible Netflix series. In this episode: how federal prison actually works, what a 40-year sentence does to your psychology, 14 months in solitary, the PTSD nobody talks about, what's most broken in the system, and why your worst day on the outside still beats your best day in there. CHAPTERS 0:00 Cold Open and Introduction 2:10 Growing Up Poor in Rochester: How It Started 3:19 The First Step Act and the Argument That Freed Thousands 6:26 The Reality of Federal Prison: Big Sandy and the Violence 10:18 The 40-Year Sentence and Judge Larimer 15:49 Life After Release: Giving Back to the Community 19:01 Writing Motions From His Cell and Getting 20 Out 24:40 The Mission: Blood on the Razor Wire 28:11 What's Most Broken in the Prison System 34:24 Misconceptions: What Prison Actually Does to You 35:14 PTSD, Counseling, and Relearning Normal Life 43:49 The SHU: 14 Months in Solitary CONNECT Blood on the Razor Wire (book) → https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Razor-Wire-journey-through/dp/B08N9DP62B Blood on the Razor Wire TV → https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2BfsAN7eb-76zlPmVbetgQ Freedom Fighters PC → https://www.freedomfighterspc.com The First Step Act ruling → https://www.criminallegalnews.org/news/2020/may/15/federal-judge-issues-order-reducing-40-year-stacked-924c-sentence-based-first-step-act-changes-compassionate-release/ ROC Vox → https://rocvox.com New episodes every Tuesday. #BloodOnTheRazorWire #FirstStepAct #FederalPrison #PrisonReform #JailhouseLawyer #CriminalJusticeReform #PositiveBlatherings #ROCVox #PositivePodcast

    55 min

  7. May 5

    Raeanne Lacatena | Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) Stops Burnout

    EFT tapping might be the most powerful business tool your competitors have never heard of — and Raeanne Lacatena has been quietly putting it to work with billionaires, burned-out founders, and entrepreneurs who've run out of runway on the grind-and-push model. Raeanne Lacatena — licensed clinical social worker, certified professional coach, reiki master, and five-time #1 bestselling author of The Integrated Entrepreneur — joins Fitz at ROC Vox to explain why burned-out entrepreneurs aren't failing because of bad strategy. They're failing because nobody ever taught them how to manage what's happening inside their own nervous system. In this episode: what EFT tapping is and why it works, how Raeanne gets skeptical clients — including billionaires — to try it, why stress literally shuts down your best thinking, the Maslow tier most people have never heard of, and what it cost Raeanne personally to put her full story into a book. CHAPTERS 0:00 Cold Open: Tapping in Traffic 1:17 Raeanne's Path: From Helper to Integrated Coach 7:50 What Entrepreneurs Struggle With Most 9:00 EFT Tapping: What It Is and Why It Works 13:02 Raising Self-Regulating Kids With EFT 15:26 The Lizard Brain: Why Stress Kills Clear Thinking 19:37 EFT Meridian Points: Nausea, Anxiety, and Golf 26:04 Writing the Book: Vulnerability and Bestseller 28:55 Self-Transcendence: Mission Over Ego 36:37 Pediatric Palliative Care: Where Reiki Began 40:50 What Schools Don't Teach: Emotional Intelligence CONNECT The Integrated Entrepreneur → https://www.theintegratedentrepreneur.com ROC Vox → https://rocvox.com New episodes every Tuesday. #EFTTapping #EmotionalFreedomTechnique #Burnout #EntrepreneurMindset #NervousSystemRegulation #SelfTranscendence #PositiveBlatherings #ROCVox #PositivePodcast

    48 min

  8. Apr 29

    Peter Conners | The Deadhead Running the Poetry Press That Put Rochester on the Map

    Before Peter Conners ran one of America's most respected poetry presses, he was following the Grateful Dead across the country in a van. Conners is the Publisher and Executive Director of BOA Editions — a Rochester-based nonprofit that has quietly won Pulitzer Prizes, national awards, and the respect of the entire literary world for 50 years, while most Rochesterians have no idea it exists. He joins Fitz at ROC Vox to talk about how a self-described troublemaker from Sutherland High School ended up running an institution — and why, at its 50th anniversary, losing its federal funding isn't going to stop it. In this episode: BOA's controversial first book by a Pulitzer Prize winner no one else would publish, why nonprofit publishers are the only thing standing between the world and the end of new poetry, the brutal economics of audiobooks (sell 1,000 copies, make $100), and what a decade of sobriety taught Peter about what publishing is really for. CHAPTERS 00:00 Welcome to Positive Blatherings 00:56 Meet Peter Conners and BOA Editions 02:18 The Founding Story: First Book to First Pulitzer 07:44 Why Poetry Needs Nonprofit Publishers 09:09 20 Years of Publishing's Digital Revolution 13:28 The Hard Truth About Audiobook Economics 18:28 From Troublemaker to Writer: Peter's Origin Story 22:00 A Family Defined by Service 25:20 How Peter Became BOA's Publisher 31:49 Going Public: Writing His Own Story 36:38 Sobriety, Recovery, and Giving Back 42:05 BOA's Future: Surviving the NEA Cut CONNECT BOA Editions → https://www.boaeditions.org Peter Conners → https://www.peterconners.net Growing Up Dead: The Hallucinated Confessions of a Teenage Deadhead → https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Up-Dead-Hallucinated-Confessions/dp/0306817330 Merch Table Blues → https://www.amazon.com/Merch-Table-Blues-Peter-Conners/dp/1945665319 Box of Rain documentary → https://www.amazon.com/Grateful-Dead-Box-Rain/dp/B0D19TCPPM Writers & Books Rochester → https://wab.org ROC Vox → https://rocvox.com New episodes every Tuesday. #BOAEditions #Poetry #IndependentPublishing #Rochester #RochesterNY #LiteraryPublishing #PoetryBooks #NonprofitArts #GratefulDead #PeterConners #PositiveBlatherings #ROCVox #Memoir #BookPublishing #IndependentPress #ArtsAdvocacy #SmallPress #WritingLife #AuthorInterview #BookCommunity #LiteraryWorld #ReadMorePoetry #RochesterArts #Deadhead #GratefulDeadCommunity #NEAFunding #PoetryLovers #WritersAndBooks #Sobriety #PublishingIndustry

    46 min
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5
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

Scott "Fitz" is a radio host in Rochester, NY and a filmmaker who has battled depression and celebrates sobriety. His podcast is his attempt to surround himself with positive successful people and to just have an organic conversation. Join him as he takes an organic approach to the standard interview. No preparation, no script. Letting the conversation have a mind of its own: a Blathering.

Information

  • Creator
    ROC Vox Podcast Network
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    131
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright ROC Vox Podcast Network
  • Show Website
    Positive Blatherings Podcast