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Joe Sinnott, Witting Partners and the host of The Energy Detox Podcast joins The Crude Life to discuss how the season of change can impact your bottom line and workplace culture.

The interview centered around the themes of sports with Major League Baseball’s Spring Training and Opening Day fresh in the minds and American lexi-culture. The upcoming NFL Draft and change in direction of NBA Playoffs too.

“As the energy sector continues to evolve with mergers, acquisitions, and expansions into new territories, professionals in the industry are faced with the constant need to adapt and reinvent themselves“ Sinnott said.

Embrace Change as an Opportunity:

First and foremost, it’s essential to recognize that change brings opportunities for growth and development. Instead of viewing mergers, acquisitions, or the expansion into new territories as disruptions, see them as chances to expand your skill set, broaden your network, and enhance your career trajectory.

The conversation started off with what we can learn from OJ Simpson in the news.

“People yearn for CONSISTENT justice, whether it’s in criminal courts, inside families with siblings obsessed over ‘fairness’, or in corporations,” Sinnott said.

Assess Your Strengths and Weaknesses:

Before diving into a new role or territory, take the time to assess your strengths and weaknesses. What skills do you bring to the table, and where do you need to improve? Understanding your capabilities will help you identify areas for growth and development as you navigate new opportunities.

In Spring Baseball for example:

“Keeping with JUSTICE theme Jason, there is an ever-increasing scrutiny of umpires strike zones,” Sinnott said. “Yes, there are egregious examples of poor ball/strikes calls, i.e. the infamous Angel Hernandez, but also some thoughts on the PERCEIVED strike zones because ever game now has the strike zone box.”

The interview also dives into Artificial Intelligence making it’s way into minor league baseball too. This robo-umpire of the future is compared to the increasing us of AI vs. human conversations in Corporate America.

Set Clear Goals:

Whether you’re transitioning to a new role within your organization or stepping into a new territory, setting clear goals is crucial for success. Define what you want to achieve in the short-term and long-term, and develop a plan to work towards those objectives. This will help you stay focused and motivated, even when faced with challenges along the way.

Spring Reset and NFL Draft:

“Key to getting ready for any new season is de-cluttering and getting rid of crap you don’t need, which is easier said than done in life and business… let alone the NFL,” Sinnott said.

Adapt to Different Cultures:

Expanding into new territories often means interacting with individuals from different cultural backgrounds. It’s essential to adapt your communication style, leadership approach, and business practices to align with the cultural norms of the region you’re entering. Embrace diversity and leverage it as a strength in building successful relationships and driving business outcomes.

“The age-old question in sports and business – do I draft/recruit/hire the best TALENT/ATHLETE or do I focus on the specific roles/positions/gaps my team/company has?” Sinnott asks.

The interview dives into the different strategies how in business and the NFL Draft.

Seek Mentorship and Guidance:

Navigating transitions in the energy sector can be daunting, but you don’t have to go it alone. Seek out mentorship and guidance from experienced professio...

The interview with filmmaker and National Energy Talk host Mark Stansberry started off discussing a shared petro-powered experience involving motion pictures and media. The Crude Life’s founder Jason Spiess had the privileged to be invited on to the production studio and set of Sherwood Forest, a docufilm about a historic time in American Oil and Gas’s impact on global independence and empowerment.

The short story is by the summer of 1942, the future of Great Britain and the outcome of World War II depended on petroleum supplies. At the end of that year, demand for 100-octane fuel would grow to more than 150,000 barrels of oil every day and German U-boats ruled the Atlantic.

In August 1942, British Secretary of Petroleum, Geoffrey Lloyd called an emergency meeting of the Oil Control Board to assess the “impending crisis in oil.”

Thus began the story of the “little-known, or at least seldom recognized, all-important role oil and oilmen played in the prosecution of the war,” according to two historians who extensively researched archives in Great Britain and the United States. Short story is they drilled in Sherwood Forest.









Oscar winner Gray Frederickson (left) and Mark Stansberry (right)



The longer story is being told by Oscar Winner Gray Frederickson. Frederickson and Stansberry worked together on the docufilm on Sherwood Forest, which told the story of how Lloyd Noble along with 44 roughnecks played a critical role during World War II.

Frederickson is best known for being a long-time producer for Francis Ford Coppola and winning an Oscar as one of the co-producers of The Godfather Part II at the 47th Academy Awards. In addition he was also nominated for Apocalypse Now.















 

Sherwood Forest was nominated for a regional Emmy in the historical documentary category. It was also picked up by NETA for national distribution.

“Sherwood Forest is an incredibly powerful documentary for our entire world right now,” Stansberry said. “There are several reenactments, which were filmed in Oklahoma locations, and around 58 cast and crew were involved. British Petroleum (bp) greatly assisted in providing footage from its archives of the 1943 timeline of Sherwood Forest. It has been quite a challenge to complete the project, especially due to COVID-19 restrictions. The release date is Spring/Summer 2022. I share with you the production team’s synopsis of Sherwood Forest:”

The interview segways into a “decade of discussions” in the oil and gas industry. Both Spiess and Stansberry talk about some interviews and events that transpired over the past decade in energy.

“I would say that one of my favorites is with Barry Corbin,” Stansberry said. “Barry has been in over 225 films, close to 250, everything from Urban Cowboy to Yellowstone. He was our narrator for Sherwood Forrest’s Top Secret.”









Actor Barry Corbin is the narrator for Sherwood Forest, the documentary on the oil and gas industry’s influence in World War II.



The interview then went into Stansberry’s past, which involved international business and energy. From China to Russia to Oklahoma, Stansberry was active in the global marketplace.

“I had done work both in Russia and China in the oil and gas industry, primarily the oil and gas in Russia, meeting with the Minister of Energy and Eurasia products back in the 1990s,” Stansberry said. “And then also in the 90’s, it was with the Chinese that were there was a gas natural gas delegation that had met here in Oklahoma and they invited me to go over to to China and I started w...

Human trafficking remains a pervasive and deeply troubling issue that plagues societies worldwide. Despite concerted efforts to combat it, numerous challenges persist, hindering progress towards its eradication.

Stacy Schaffer, Founder and Executive Director of 31:8 Project, discusses the realities behind human trafficking, pornography, identifying signals and what are some resources people can use for help.

​”Men, women, and children are sold into a $150 billion annual market for sex and labor. This is happening globally, nationally and locally; in hotels, restaurants, and on street corners,” Schaffer said. “Slavery is wrapped up in almost every industry’s supply chain, tainting the food we eat, the clothes we buy, and the electronics we love.”

Schaffer added that human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery and involves the movement of people by means of violence, deception or coercion for the purpose of forced labor, servitude, or slavery-like practices.

“It is a market-based economy that exists on principles of supply and demand,” Schaffer said. “It thrives due to conditions, which allow for high profits to be generated at low risk.”



Here, are some of the key hurdles faced by society in addressing the complex issue of human trafficking.



* Misunderstanding and Awareness: Human trafficking is often misunderstood, leading to misconceptions about its prevalence and nature. Raising awareness and fostering a deeper understanding of the multifaceted aspects of human trafficking is crucial in combating this crime.

* Victim Identification and Support: Identifying and assisting victims of human trafficking pose significant challenges. Victims may fear seeking help due to threats, coercion, or mistrust of authorities. Additionally, there is a lack of adequate resources and support systems for survivors, making their recovery and reintegration into society challenging.

* Legal and Prosecution Challenges: Prosecuting traffickers requires navigating legal complexities and jurisdictional issues. Furthermore, many victims face obstacles in accessing justice, with some preferring healing and prevention over confrontation.

* Public Health Perspective: Recognizing human trafficking as a public health issue is imperative. Addressing the physical and mental health needs of survivors, as well as implementing preventive measures, is crucial in combatting this crime.

* Global Collaboration and Coordination: Human trafficking is a transnational crime that requires coordinated efforts at local, national, and international levels]. Collaboration among governments, law enforcement agencies, NGOs, and communities is essential for effective prevention, prosecution, and protection of victims.



“I experienced my first case of human trafficking with a little girl named Anna. She was eight years old at the time,” Schaffer recalled. “And we don’t typically see this in North Dakota the way it was portrayed in Guatemala, but she was taken from a playground and brought to a brothel where she was repeatedly sexually abused over and over again.”















Schaffer continued to share her story.

“Now, regardless of who you are or your ages, that’s going to be a traumatic event because it was for Anna, and we were fortunately able to intervene, which is very uncommon in underdeveloped areas,” Schaffer said. “So we were able to provide her with services, and she went on to live a pretty stable life. She ended up getting married, having kids, and is doing well. So she’s really my motivation and inspiration for launching 31:8 Project in 2015.”

Schaffer reminds people that combatting human trafficking demands a multifaceted approach and collective action from all sectors of society. By addressing these challenges head-on and fostering collaboration, we can strive towards a world free from the horrors of...

Clint Kling of Shepherd VR joins TownSquare Media KLXX 1270AM’s Talk of the Town with Steve Bakken and special guest co=host Jason Spiess.





The interview stems around a discussion on how Toyota and several police departments are integrating VR Training into their HR, safety and overall culture.

“I mean a lot of my university research was based on assessing effectiveness in training just because everybody said VR was better,” Kling said. “Nobody really had any hard data. I spent a year and a half or so setting up experiments and running them and basically showcasing what is effective training and as far as VR goes, what’s effective training as far as our traditional methods go. So VR definitely has taken leaps and bounds on the effectiveness of the training.”

Toyota Motor of North America produced and developed a VR experience that teaches team members about assessing risks associated with new equipment on the factory floor. Kling discussed how this translates into other areas of heavy industry and manufacturing training.

“So in that environment we ended up designing an open pit mining scenario so you know when you put on the goggles you’re basically transported from the classroom into the open pit environment,” Kling said. “Everything’s adjusted to scale so everything looks like it should if you were on that site. So the equipment sizes, the high wall sizes, we had a conveyor crusher units presented in a kind of a real life scale.”

At last week’s Sioux City city council meeting, the council voted unanimously to allow the department to use a $75,000 grant to purchase a Virtual Reality training system.

This simulated training will allow officers to use VR headsets to work on movement commands, learn how to de-escalate hostile situations; all while in a mobile and safe environment.

“So like what the police academies are doing, that’s fantastic,” Kling said.

Kling is a seasoned professional in mining and oil operations with over a decade of hands-on industry experience. Kling bolsters his practical knowledge with robust academic qualifications – a Master of Science degree in Mining Engineering and a Graduate Certificate in Safety Management. But his ingenuity doesn’t stop there.

In the course of his doctoral studies, Kling has been meticulously creating and refining virtual reality modules to amplify the effectiveness of safety training. By weaving together advanced neuroscience and psychology principles, he’s brought to life the unique Functional Integral Training (FIT) method.

This groundbreaking approach capitalizes on the immersive nature of VR to facilitate superior knowledge retention, positioning Shepherd VR’s training modules a cut above the rest.

“With Shepherd VR, you’re not just learning safety – you’re experiencing it,” Kling said. “Experience the mining environment like never before and cultivate the safest practices with our unique VR training module.”















Kling added that the magic of an impactful VR training module lies in the ingenious crafting of its storyboard.

“Leveraging an in-depth understanding of brain functions and learning mechanisms, I’ve harnessed this knowledge to construct immersive virtual reality modules,” Kling said.

At the end of the day, what is the goal? To Kling, it’s to “help individuals fully understand the crucial concepts of safety and thereby fundamentally transf...

Warren Martin, executive director, Kansas Strong, joins The Crude Life with an update on the Jayhawk State.

Martin has been very active educating and promoting the benefits of oil and gas, including tax revenues, community development projects and everyday uses for petroleum products.

“Informing the public about the many ways the Kansas oil and natural gas industry contributes to our state and our nation is an important part of our mission,” Martin said. “Kansas Strong has implemented a multi-platform campaign to reach Kansans with our message. See how Kansas Strong is helping educate and inform Kansans about the critical role our industry plays.”





Martin provides periodic messages dedicated to topics related to the oil & natural gas industry and how they impact our lives. He has appeared at over 200 events in the past year.

“So Kansas is a unique oil and gas producing state. We’re 11th leading producing state in the nation. Yet we do not have big oil here in Kansas. We don’t we do not have any of the major oil companies here. Only one that it could even slightly be considered a major oil producing company that actually does production here in the state,” Martin said. “We have a lot of pipeline companies. We have a lot of refining companies. But oil and gas production is predominantly done by local, independent oil and gas producers across the state. We are almost exclusively a marginal well state.”



Martin, a philosophy graduate of Texas Tech University, is an author, teacher, minister, artist, quasi-philosopher and speaker known for his unique teaching style. His passion is to inspire & invest in the next generation of leaders. He currently serves as Executive Director of Kansas Strong for the promotion of the quality of life created by the oil & natural gas industry.



He previously served as Executive Director of the General Tommy Franks Leadership Institute and Museum and was the primary presenter of all Inspired Leadership Experiences. Warren has been leading leadership workshops, presenting keynote presentations and consulting with Fortune 500 corporations and non-profit organizations for 22 years.









Everyday your story is being told by someone. Who is telling your story? Who are you telling your story to?

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Transform your safety training with Shepherd VR – The Future is Here! Dive into a new era of learning with our groundbreaking VR modules, designed to enhance retention and reduce workplace accidents.

Leveraging over a decade of industry expertise in mining and oil, Shepherd VR combines neuroscience and psychology with our innovative FIT methodology to revolutionize safety training.

When supply chains run smoothly, the economies they support do too.

But when even the smallest disruption occurs, supply chains can quickly turn into the equivalent of a daisy chain — where one event sets off a cascading impact down the entire logistics value chain.

Experts fear that this is what could happen up and down the East Coast as businesses and shippers try to manage the fallout from the March 26 collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge as a result of a cargo ship collision.

According to Maryland Governor Wes Moore  port is responsible for over 51 million tons of foreign cargo. That’s the largest in the country. For everybody who was buying cars, everybody who was buying farm equipment, we’re the largest port in country that does that. So, this is not just impacting Maryland.”

In regards to the Energy Industry, smaller companies like RMI Supply are able to remain nimble, ready and able for new business opportunities.

“The big companies and ones involved with mergers or buyouts have an added layer of issues related to time and supply chain,” RMI Supply president Mark Workman said. “Smaller companies can make a decision in the moment, whereas a larger company can take months to make a simple decision.”

Workman explained how this can create financial impacts as well, especially considering the rate of inflation on goods and services.

“The fundamentals of logistics are playing out in front of me where I can see an increase in cargo costs coming, prompting me to make a decision now,” Workman said. “The larger companies can become so bureaucratic it’s hard on them.”

Workman added that during these supply chain impact issues the inability to make a decision will often result in the market making the decision for you and your company.

RMI Supply is a leading provider of specialty oilfield chemicals focusing on delivering environmentally-friendly products to the market combined with a fast and responsive service.

Among the questions around what happens now is what the accident means for shipping and the economy.

The port handled a record amount of cargo last year. While President Joe Biden has said he intends for the federal government to rebuild the bridge, and called on Congress to support that effort, the port is directly responsible for about 15,000 jobs and generated $4.7 billion in economic value to the state of Maryland.

The bridge’s collapse stranded at least 10 vessels in the water and ships outside the blockage have had to reroute to other East Coast ports, such as Norfolk and New Jersey. For global shipping, this comes at a time when companies are contending with route disruptions along the Suez and Panama canals.

Along with being the top U.S. port for autos, Baltimore is also the nation’s furthest inland port, said Houston Mason, adjunct professor of supply chain management at Loyola and Georgetown universities. Companies may have to spend an extra day traveling up the Chesapeake Bay and into Baltimore’s harbor, but once their product is unloaded, it’s closer to the Midwest than it would be at any other East Coast port.

In the last decade, after increasing the depth of berths at its primary cargo terminal, Baltimore has been able to handle substantially larger ships than other East Coast ports, Mason said.

The port is also a major source of employment across the region. A a href="https://mpa.maryland.