Well Being Walks with Kip Hollister

The Hollister Group, Inc.

Welcome to my podcast: Well Being Walks. In each episode, I am joined by a special guest for a walk – in nature – knowing that nature is where our souls sing. We all have a soul song, yet, our soul songs get silenced by our human “doing” – chasing achievement, chasing success, climbing the corporate ladder – DOING more. There is a real imbalance today in human DOING versus human BEING. In these podcasts we focus more on BEING human and what that looks like. We will share a collection of REAL conversations and stories from respected leaders and influencers who are exploring a different kind of leadership and how to live a soulful life that matters. Please join us on a walk! - Kip

  1. Sandy Lish: Authentic Leadership

    OCT 22

    Sandy Lish: Authentic Leadership

    People always ask me if my crisis management work is stressful. Not for me. It’s where I thrive — drawing upon my natural resourcefulness, decades managing risk and crises for clients, and passion for developing communication strategies. I help my clients by focusing on connections… how they reach their audiences, how their audiences reach them, how my teams and I can facilitate those interactions. I’ve helped my clients grow and sell companies, acquire firms, improve valuation / stock price, gain market share, manage crises, perfect presentation skills, launch products and the list goes on. When I’m not working directly with clients, I’m growing Castle — developing partnerships, identifying marketing opportunities and building new client relationships. And when I’m not doing that, I’m out in the marketplace, representing Castle and our clients through our dedication to the community. After decades working with companies to build a crisis communications plan or tackle their latest controversy, I’ve seen it all — national high-profile, high-stakes crises for organizations of all sizes, including corporate, public sector, nonprofit, education and healthcare clients. I’ve successfully managed sensitive and highly charged crisis communications around data breaches, acts of God, sexual harassment, Title IX discrimination, free speech, leadership misconduct, mergers & acquisitions, workforce reduction, violence & workplace accidents, regulatory action and more. PR is all about third-party credibility – so I must share some of our own accolades. Castle was named a Forbes 2021 Best PR Agency, Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce 2021 Small Business of the Year, PRNEWS‘ Agency Elite Top 100, and is a five-time Boston Business Journal Best Place to Work. I’ve been honored with the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Pinnacle Award for Entrepreneurship, Women’s Business Enterprise Hall of Fame Trailblazer Award, Enterprising Women Magazine Enterprising Women of the Year, Women’s Enterprise USA Top WBE CEO, Tomorrow’s Women TODAY Woman of the Year, WBENC Women’s Business Enterprise Star Award, Center for Women and Enterprise Rising Star Award and March of Dimes Franklin Delano Roosevelt Humanitarian Award. I was also named a Boston Business Journal “40 under 40″ (although I would no longer be eligible!). I’ve had the privilege of speaking at regional and national conferences, including the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Massachusetts, University Risk Management and Insurance Association and the Automotive Public Relations Council. Other speaking engagements include Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, Boston Business Journal, Association of American Colleges and Universities, National Association of Independent Schools, Commonwealth Institute, Council for Advancement and Support of Education, Center for Women and Enterprise, CBRE Women’s Initiative and more. I’m also a contributor to Forbes, an active member of the New England Council and a founding member of the Boston Business Journal Leadership Trust. In 2018, I was appointed by Governor Charlie Baker to the Massachusetts Bay Community College Board of Trustees. For more than 15 years, I have served on the boards of Center for Women and Enterprise and WGBH Corporate Council. I also serve on the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and Executive Committee and am on the Executive Committee of the Public Relations Global Network — interacting almost daily with my “sister” (and “brother”) agency principals in every major media market to develop world-class relationships for our clients and teams.

    25 min
  2. Dicken Bettinger: Psychological Well-Being

    OCT 2

    Dicken Bettinger: Psychological Well-Being

    Dicken Bettinger, Ed.D., received his undergraduate degree from St. Lawrence University and began his career teaching high school students.  Many students came to Dicken with problems that they were experiencing.  This began his search for something to teach people that would increase their well-being.  He received his master's degree from Pennsylvania State University and his Doctoral degree in counseling psychology from Boston University.  He became licensed as a clinical psychologist in 1983 and retired from his psychotherapy practice after working as a psychologist for 31 years. Thirty-three years ago, he met Sydney Banks who had an enlightenment experience where he realized the Three Principles that underlie all human experience. Dicken had finally found universal principles that he could teach anyone.  He was grateful to find something that was simple in nature yet had the profound effect of raising the quality of a person’s life.  He feels fortunate that for 23 years he was able to learn directly from Sydney Banks.  In 2008 Dicken received a Certificate of Competency from Mr. Banks authorizing him to teach the Three Principles. Dicken co-founded and was the director of a center in Vermont that was the first center in the Northeast to teach the Three Principles.  He served as one of the original nation-wide Core Three Principles Faculty and is currently a faculty member for the Three Principles Global Community.  In 1996 Dicken joined Pransky and Associates, a Three Principle-based institute in La Conner, Washington.  Dicken was instrumental in developing and teaching leadership and staff development programs for universities, hospitals, publishing companies, defense contractors, health departments, banks, and non-profit organizations. He taught company employees what it takes to be resilient and agile in the face of today’s business challenges and rapidly changing environments.  He mentored CEOs and their leadership teams in raising the bar on their productivity, teamwork, and business success.  He now specializes in developing 3 Principle practitioners, as well as leading group seminars on the Principles and their relationship to spiritual/psychological well-being. In January of 2012 Dicken founded Three Principles Mentoring to deepen peoples' understanding of the 3 principles, develop 3P practitioners globally, and offer seminars in countries throughout the world.  Dicken wrote a book with Natasha Swerdloff, Coming Home: Uncovering the Foundations of Psychological Well-being​ which is now available in 10 languages. Dicken also deeply values his work as a director on the board of the Three Principles Glogal Community. This organization was formed to spread the teachings of Sydney Banks around the world.   Dicken enjoys public service work and has worked with refugees from South and Central America. He was an integral part of the Tibetan Resettlement Project in Vermont. Dicken has been happily married for 55 years and loves teaching 3P Practitioners and running seminars worldwide on spiritual/psychological well-being. He has two adult children, Nina and Ben, and adores spending time with his four grandchildren.  He enjoys photography, hiking, canoeing,  traveling, and his dog, Oliver.

    47 min
  3. Lyndia Downie: Servant Leadership

    AUG 11

    Lyndia Downie: Servant Leadership

    Lyndia Downie has served as Pine Street Inn’s President & Executive Director since 2000 and on Pine Street’s staff for 40 years, working in roles throughout the organization. As a result of her leadership and vision, Pine Street is now the largest provider of housing with support services for individuals moving out of homelessness in New England, with 1,100 units of housing and a major housing expansion underway. Her collaboration with other key agencies, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the City of Boston has brought the population of unsheltered individuals to just over three percent of the overall homeless population. To place that in context, in San Francisco, a city of similar size and high housing costs, the unsheltered homeless rate is over 50 percent. With a $98 million budget and services provided at four shelters and 39 housing locations in Boston and Brookline, Pine Street supports over 2,100 individuals each day, with programs including street outreach, emergency shelter, supportive housing and job training. iCater, a Pine Street Inn social enterprise, is a successful catering business providing meals to a variety of organizations and job training to individuals moving back into the workforce. Looking ahead, Lyndia is guiding Pine Street’s bold plan to add 400-500 new units, with 250 already in development. The expansion is driven by large-scale new developments that will have a powerful impact on ending homelessness. This expanded vision for housing is largely supported by a transformative $15 million commitment from the Yawkey Foundation. With her keen understanding of the complex causes of homelessness and proven methods to solve it, Lyndia is a frequently requested speaker who regularly serves as a policy advisor at the city, state and federal levels. Lyndia served on former Mayor Walsh’s Advisory Council on Homelessness and was a member of the task force that helped shape the City of Boston’s action plan to end veteran and chronic homelessness. She also serves on a number of policy advisory committees to the state’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services, and has presented on Pine Street Inn’s strategic housing expansion at the annual conference of the National Alliance to End Homelessness in Washington, D.C. Additionally, Lyndia has been tapped to serve on a number of committees and boards, including the Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers, the Massachusetts Housing & Shelter Alliance, the Board of Advisors of Eastern Bank and the Franklin Square House Foundation. She was also named a Barr Fellow through the Barr Foundation’s program to honor nonprofit leaders in the region and has co-taught a course on solutions to homelessness at the Harvard Kennedy School. In 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023, Lyndia was selected as one of the top 100 women leaders in Massachusetts by The Commonwealth Institute in partnership with The Boston Globe. Boston Magazine has named Lyndia “One of the 100 Most Influential Bostonians,” and she has received the Massachusetts Council of Human Services’ CEO Award of Excellence for her leadership. In addition, Pine Street Inn was honored with Bank of America’s Neighborhood Builders award, which recognizes innovation, excellence and leadership among nonprofits across the country. Lyndia received the Henry L. Shattuck City Champion Award from the Boston Municipal Research Bureau and was named the “Most Innovative Person in the Massachusetts Non-Profit Sector” by The Boston Globe. Lyndia has also received the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Pinnacle Award, the New England Women’s Leadership Award, and the University of Vermont’s 2020 Alumni Association Award.

    52 min
5
out of 5
15 Ratings

About

Welcome to my podcast: Well Being Walks. In each episode, I am joined by a special guest for a walk – in nature – knowing that nature is where our souls sing. We all have a soul song, yet, our soul songs get silenced by our human “doing” – chasing achievement, chasing success, climbing the corporate ladder – DOING more. There is a real imbalance today in human DOING versus human BEING. In these podcasts we focus more on BEING human and what that looks like. We will share a collection of REAL conversations and stories from respected leaders and influencers who are exploring a different kind of leadership and how to live a soulful life that matters. Please join us on a walk! - Kip