Life in the And Erin Baker

Goodbye Life in the AND, Hello Shift Starters
Let’s Start Some Shift!
 
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I have been wanting to have Bex Taylor-Klaus on the podcast ever since I decided Life in the And was going to be a thing. Bex - the eldest child of previous guests Elaine and David Taylor-Klaus - is someone whom you may know from their role as Sin in CW’s Arrow, Audrey in MTV’s Scream, the voice of Pidge in Voltron: Legendary Defenders, or as the non-binary Deputy Brianna Bishop in Fox’s procedural drama, Deputy. An “Accidental AND,” Bex is a non-binary individual - an identity that we all need to talk more about in society.
In this episode, Bex and I explore what it means to be non-binary and what it looks like in Hollywood. We illustrate Bex’s experience with gender & identity as a child and how they discovered the non-binary identity. We elaborate on the non-binary identity’s characteristic as a spectrum and explain why it’s not about being “in the middle.” We emphasize the importance of letting people know that they are not alone and underscore the power of standing in your truth and speaking it.
“You are who you are. Who you are can change, and you can figure it out as you go along.” - Bex Taylor-Klaus
This week on Life in the AND:
Bex’s childhood experience and how they discovered the non-binary spectrum Why Bex loves Dorothy from Wonderful Wizard of Oz How Bex came out as non-binary for the first time during an argument The power of knowing and speaking your truth Pitching Deputy’s Breanna Bishop to Fox TV and why the show means so much to Bex Transforming pain and heartache into art and content Gatekeeping in the queer community What the non-binary spectrum is and why it’s not about being “in the middle” The superpower of non-binary humans How we can become an AND with the pronouns we use and why it’s okay to let other people be confused Our destiny to make a mark in the world Why Bex likes to play characters that make people uncomfortable The beauty of our human brains and the squiggly ANDpersand Resources Mentioned:
Lessons from Being Complex AND Raising Complex Humans with Elaine Taylor-Klaus We Need Our Heads AND Our Hearts with David Taylor-Klaus Connect with Bex Taylor-Klaus:
Bex Taylor-Klaus on Instagram Bex Taylor-Klaus on Facebook Bex Taylor-Klaus on Twitter Bex Taylor-Klaus on Tumblr Embrace Life in the AND
Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of Life in the AND, the podcast helping you embrace the AND in your life to cultivate more authenticity, creativity, inclusiveness, and love in every area of the world around you. If you enjoyed this episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts to subscribe to the show and leave a review.
Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn and share your favorite episodes across social media. And for more great content and information, be sure to visit our website and join The Heart Leader Launchpad Facebook group.

 
 
Sean Smith is someone whom I call a teacher, mentor, and a friend. He is a Neuro-Transformational Coach and Founder of the MVP Success Systems, through which he helps passionate people become successful and authentic life coaches. He recently penned And, a poem about independence, our country, and the world. It is a poem that reflects not only his ability to hold honest and uncomfortable conversations but also his desire to bridge the country’s social, political, and racial divides. Sean is a man on a mission to heal the world - and a person I am glad to have in my life.
 
In this episode, Sean and I discuss what it would take to create AND in a world of “us” versus “them,” of “we” and “the others.” We explore what could happen to a country if its citizens lived a life in the AND as well as discuss how our sense of belonging informs our decisions and beliefs. We explore the story of a young white supremacist whom Sean met when he was a probation officer, explain how we go into survival mode when our validity is threatened, and contemplate on how white people, including myself, benefit from racism even when we are not consciously racists. We also explore how powerful humanity can become when they acknowledge the existence of both light and dark within them.
 
 
 
“If we can live a life in the AND, if we can look at our differences from a place of love and compassion, all our divides would be healed.” - Sean Smith
 
 
 
This week on Life in the AND:
 
A reading from Sean’s poem, And How we are born in the And before we get “Or’d” What it means for the country when its citizens live a life in the AND Lessons from improv’s “Yes, And…” game and our tendency to look for what’s different rather than what the similarities are between us Healing the world’s greatest political divides through empathy and compassion The pain of being ostracized in the Black community and the need for belonging How certain conversations and environments force us into survival mode The story of a young white supremacist and how our mortal fear of abandonment pushes us into bad decisions Acknowledging that a person can NOT be racist and receive the benefits of racism at the same time Contemplating on how I have perpetuated racism, whether consciously or unconsciously, as a white person How we can have compassion for a person and not enable their toxic behavior The difference between controlling and suppressing an emotion William the Werewolf and how anger can be a productive emotion The importance of committing to personal values over validation from other people The relationship between knowing, trusting the self, and their relevance in politics The power of humanity when they’re at their AND  
 
Related Content:
 
It’s Time to Replace “Reach Your Potential” With an AND  
 
Connect with Sean Smith:
 
Sean Smith Website Sean Smith on Facebook Sean Smith on Twitter Sean Smith on YouTube Sean Smith on LinkedIn Email: info@coachseansmith.com  
 
 
 
Embrace Life in the AND
 
Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of Life in the AND, the podcast helping you embrace the AND in your life to cultivate more authenticity, creativity, inclusiveness, and love in every area of the world around you. If you enjoyed this episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts to subscribe to the show and leave a review.
 
Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn and share your favorite episodes across social media. And for more great content and information, be sure to visit our website and join The Heart Leader Launchpad Facebook group.

If you are the product of the five people you spend the most time with, then I am a product of Mahrukh Imtiaz. Mahrukh is part of my chosen family and, together with two others, we formed a group called Wednesday Wonders. By day, Mahrukh is the Project Manager for EY’s US Talent Specialist Team and a cricketer for the Canadian Women’s Cricket Team. But by night, she is a prolific content creator on TikTok. Mahrukh is dedicated to creating inspirational content that helps other people be the best version of themselves and the champions they want to be.


Mahrukh joins me today to describe the power of being a master and giving yourself permission to be a disaster. She shares what inspired her to start her journey as a content creator and explains why she chose to focus on TikTok over other social media platforms. She discusses what it means to NOT judge for your audience and highlights how she trains her brain to reframe anxiety into excitement. She also emphasizes the role of action in clarifying your life’s purpose and underscores the importance of sharing your story.


“Be a disaster AND a master at the same time. Having that mindset permits you to produce content without judging yourself.” - Mahrukh Imtiaz


This week on Life in the AND:


Taking control of your life and being open for what’s to come Our tendency to expect results right away Mahrukh’s TikTok journey and the importance of attention What makes TikTok different from other social media platforms The power of shifting your mindset towards allowing yourself to be imperfect The impact of allowing yourself to become a master AND a disaster How to be patient with the macro and hustle in the micro My 90-day live journey and how you won’t know your message until you speak it How imperfection can make you more relatable to people The value of not judging for your audience Training your brain to reframe anxiety into excitement and how they’re physiologically the same thing The importance of sharing your perspective and story How getting into action creates clarity and confidence in your life’s work Beating worries over doing the wrong thing through having high intentions and low attachment to outcomes

Related Content:


I Control My Destiny AND So Does “The Universe” What Would You Do if You *Were* Afraid? How to Be Fearful AND Fearless What Becomes Possible When We have High Intention and Low Attachment to Our Goals

Connect with Mahrukh Imtiaz:


Mahrukh Imtiaz Website Mahrukh Imtiaz on Facebook Mahrukh Imtiaz on Instagram Mahrukh Imtiaz on Twitter Mahrukh Imtiaz on TikTok Mahrukh Imtiaz on LinkedIn

Embrace Life in the AND


Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of Life in the AND, the podcast helping you embrace the AND in your life to cultivate more authenticity, creativity, inclusiveness, and love in every area of the world around you. If you enjoyed this episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts to subscribe to the show and leave a review.


Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn and share your favorite episodes across social media. And for more great content and information, be sure to visit my website and join The Heart Leader Launchpad Facebook group.

 
 
Niiamah Ashong is a pioneer and outlier on a mission to create a world of true inclusion and empowerment. He is the founder and leader of the World of Joy Movement where he brings his vision of true inclusivity and diversity into life by helping leaders and organizations leverage their uniqueness and strength. Before embarking on leading this movement, Niiamah worked with AppNexus as a People Experience Consultant and a Senior Consultant for management services firm Deloitte Consulting. Today, Niiamah is a dear friend and kindred spirit who continues to inspire me on my mission.
Niiamah joins me today to discuss the Ands we need to create a world of true inclusion. He shares his vision of an inclusive world and explains how he was inspired to make this vision a reality. He explores the paradox of inclusion and exclusion and illustrates how we can become inclusive while maintaining our differences. He also emphasizes the role of outliers, trailblazers, and mavericks in a divisive and uncertain world, and explores the possibility of being fearful and still being authentic.
 
“True inclusion is about being celebrated and valued for the things that make you different.” - Niiamah Ashong
 
This week on Life in the AND:
What inclusion means for Niiamah and why it’s more about difference than sameness Creating a world of true inclusion and what it looks like in 2045 How innovation comes when people who are different from each other work together The “Yes And” game and why And is a skill set that could be honed Where Niiamah’s mission of creating an inclusive world started and how he came to realize it How inclusion and exclusion go hand in hand, and how we can create a space of diversity that accepts outliers and trailblazers The characteristics that make trailblazers, outliers, and mavericks, and what makes them important in a world of uncertainty Self-identifying as an outlier and how we are alone and belonging at the same time The difference between belonging versus fitting-in The costs of owning authenticity and uniqueness and why trailblazing isn’t safe Handling both sides of fear and what it means to be fearful and fear less at the same time  
Connect with Niiamah Ashong:
Niiamah Ashong Trailblazer Tribe Niiamah Ashong on YouTube Niiamah Ashong on Instagram Niiamah Ashong on LinkedIn  
 
 
 
Embrace Life in the AND
Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of Life in the AND, the podcast helping you embrace the AND in your life to cultivate more authenticity, creativity, inclusiveness, and love in every area of the world around you. If you enjoyed this episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts to subscribe to the show and leave a review.
Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn and share your favorite episodes across social media. And for more great content and information, be sure to visit our website.

 
 
Shelley Paxton is internationally recognized as The Burnout Fighter and Fire Re-igniter. She is the Chicago-based author of Soulbbatical: A Corporate Rebel’s Guide to Finding Your Best Life, a book where she shares her journey from working in Corporate America as the CMO of Harley-Davidson to becoming the Chief Soul Officer of her life and career. Shelley has spent over 25 years in the corporate world as a highly regarded marketing and advertising executive with some of the world’s most iconic brands, including Visa, McDonald’s, and AOL. Her work has been recognized and featured in multiple media publications including Thrive Global, Forbes, PBS, and CBS. Since taking her Soulbbatical in 2016 and launching her company, Shelley has been on a mission to liberate a billion souls by inspiring them to embrace their greatest truth, purpose, and possibility.
Shelley joins me today to share all of the “Ands” in her life and career. She discusses her ballsy move to liberate a billion souls by creating a title wave of change in people’s lives and organizations. She discusses the magic that can happen when you trust AND surrender to your soul’s process instead of the corporate process or the process of others. She discusses how you can trust, surrender, and follow your soul’s desires while working in the corporate environment and why the first step to reconnecting to your soul is to get reacquainted with yourself and your personal values. She also explains the difference between rebelling for something versus rebelling against something and why she believes, deep down, everyone has a rebel soul.
“You have to know where you’re heading, and you first have to know yourself because getting reconnected with your soul really is getting reconnected with your GPS system.” - Shelley Paxton
This week on Life in the AND:
Shelley’s big, audacious goal of liberating a billion souls - one soul at a time How Shelley stays grounded in holding onto her big, overarching goal while liberating one individual soul at a time The magic that happens when you trust AND surrender to your soul’s process Bridging the gap between working in the corporate world while following your soul’s desires Getting reacquainted with yourself and your values and why it’s the first step to reconnecting to your soul Choosing to believe that crisis always comes as a gift to teach us a lesson Why Shelley believes everyone has a rebel soul How your ‘ands’ are the lego pieces of your life Using fear as fuel to get to where you want to go Why Shelley believes trusting and surrendering to your soul’s desires is the “And” everyone should stand for Resources Mentioned:
The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact by Chip Heath and Dan Heath  
Connect with Shelley Paxton:
Soulbbatical Rebel Souls Podcast Book: Sabbatical: A Corporate Rebel’s Guide to Finding Your Best Life Shelley Paxton on LinkedIn Shelley Paxton on Instagram Soulbbatical on Facebook Shelley Paxton on Twitter  
Embrace Life in the AND
Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of Life in the AND, the podcast helping you embrace the AND in your life to cultivate more authenticity, creativity, inclusiveness, and love in every area of the world around you. If you enjoyed this episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts to subscribe to the show and leave a review.
Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn and share your favorite episodes across social media. And for more great content and information, be sure to visit our website.