Unlocking the Power of Industry Voices: Empowering Conversations with Luminaries

In this captivating episode, we have the honor of hosting four extraordinary guests who have made a significant impact in their respective fields. Join us as we delve into thought-provoking conversations with Gino Medeiros, Carol Diviney, Kevin Wheeler, and Dr. Ariel King.

Gino Medeiros is not only an accomplished author but also a passionate foster youth advocate, speaker, and child abuse and neglect consultant. His invaluable insights and experiences shed light on the challenges faced by foster youth and offer actionable solutions for a better future.

Carol Diviney, the CEO, founder, project manager, poet, author, and Legend Magazine correspondent, joins us to share her remarkable journey and expertise. With a unique blend of creativity and business acumen, Carol has paved her way to inspire countless individuals through her empowering words and creative endeavors.

Next, we have Kevin Wheeler, a seasoned CEO and fractional COO, renowned for his operational expertise and leadership. Tune in as he discusses the role of a fractional COO and how companies can leverage this cost-effective solution to overcome hurdles and scale their operations.

Last but not least, we are honored to host Dr. Ariel King, an international business advisor, speaker, and author. Driven by her passion for empowering individuals and organizations, she divulges powerful strategies and insights that drive success in today's global business landscape.

Join us for this enriching episode where we unlock the wisdom of these exceptional guests to inspire, educate, and empower our listeners. Don't miss out on the opportunity to learn from these industry luminaries!

Visit the websites of our guests to explore more about their incredible work:
- Gino Medeiros: https://ginomedeiros.com/
- Carol Diviney: https://www.caroldiviney.com/ & https://universepoems.co.uk
- Kevin Wheeler: https://www.kevinwheeler.org/ & https://www.simplifiedcoo.dental/
- Dr. Ariel King: https://www.drkingsolutions.com/ & https://www.arielfoundation.org/

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Now, this next guest needs nointroduction because he's been on our show a
few times, and I know thatyou've expressed appreciation for his journey as not
only a man, but as anauthor and as a youth advocate, and
so it warms my heart to inviteGeno Medello's back to today's show to tell

(00:24):
us a little bit more about hisjourney as well as more inspiration behind his
book. Gino, We're so happyto have you back on today's program.
How are you today? I'm good? How are you? I'm doing pretty
good. You know, I knowthat you were just getting over a cold,
and you know you still found theenergy to be on the segment with

(00:48):
us today. So we genuinely appreciateyour time and your care, especially to
get to get your story out there. Thank you for that, no problem,
Thanks for having me. Now,I do want my audience to just
remember ember a little bit more aboutyour story, because I think it's such

(01:11):
a powerful story of your journey throughthe foster care system. And can you
briefly describe for us, you know, your experience as a foster care youth
and how you became an advocate forthem, and then how that influenced your
decision to become an author the threefoldquestion in the one, first your journey

(01:33):
as a foster care youth, andthen your advocacy work, and then now
you're being an author. So thejourney itself as a child going through the
system, I would describe it ina word as horrific. It definitely had
challenges that most people can't imagine.And as an adult looking back, it's

(02:00):
funny because I just finished the finalread through of my book last weekend,
and I can get I'm so detachedfrom from that stage of my life that
it almost feels like I'm reading someoneelse's story. I've decided just to well.
I think when one of our previousinterviews, you had asked me what

(02:23):
made me decide to write? AndI've always loved writing. It was instilled
in me by my seventh and eighthgrade lead English teacher that writing is a
tre tremendous tool. And it wasa chance encounter with Maya Angelo in the
early two thousands that sort of inspiredme to get going on it. I've

(02:43):
always believed that I had a powerfulstory, but it's one thing to believe
it, and it's another thing toheal from it, so I needed to
get to the other side of thatstruggle, and my conversation with Miss Angelo
really helped with that because she wasjust so giving and so genuine, and

(03:05):
it was her that said to me, excuse me, fly, that I
needed to write it down, evenif I never showed it to anyone,
it would help me heal. Andshe was right, and that's sort of
what started this process for me,and it just it's taken me twenty years.
I needed It's interesting. I wasthinking about it last night and I

(03:28):
stopped the book. I stopped writingthe book right at the point where my
mom came into my life, andI never really picked it up again until
my mom started to decline her health, and I think that's what I needed.
I needed that finality and I neededto get her through the end of
her life before I could really delveinto the last part of my book,

(03:55):
which is predominantly about my time withher and her stability and what she created
for me in my life. Wowoooh, that is powerful. That is
powerful. And through that journey,you also became a very passionate advocate for

(04:18):
our young people. Can you tellme a little bit about what motivated you
to do that because you know,there are many people who go through the
foster care system and and you knowthey successfully do many other things, there
are few that will come back andadvocate for those other youths. And why

(04:40):
have you chosen to do that?I think for me, that's a really
good question. And it started sortof organically when I was in college.
I reached back out to a privatefoster care organization that I was with to
help me pay for it. AndI have this impression in my head of
what the last social worker that Iworked with with that particular organization had told

(05:04):
me, and he basically made mefeel. No, he didn't make me
feel He's straight up said that theydon't support people who are dead. And
nothing could have been further from thetruth. So when I came back,
I came back to ask for themto help pay for college, and I
kind of came back with a chipon my shoulder. And it was right

(05:27):
around the time that the organization thatwas called the Casey Family Program was starting
to really recognize the diversity of fostercare children, not in just in race,
but also in how they identify.And the director at the time,
her name was Carmen said, satme down in her office. She said,
whatever you think you know, youdon't know, and she really encouraged

(05:53):
me to talk about it. Withmy experience what it was like for foster
parents when I was a child,as far as coming to terms with my
sexuality, there are a lot ofnuances involved in that. You're when you
have your own biological child, letalone a foster child, you don't you're

(06:15):
under much more of a microscope.And I took the opportunity to work with
the agency and their perspective foster parentsbecause I felt like it was important that
they understand one little comment is goingto affect a foster child quite differently than
it's going to affect their biological child. And that was sort of the typical

(06:40):
experience that I had growing up.Was you know, I was not the
most masculine boy, and a lotof parents struggled with that, and it
I just felt some tremendous sense ofresponsibility to help give back because it was

(07:00):
so I was so fortunate in somany ways that so many kids are not.
And as much as I hate tothink that it was because of my
race, it was and it's notright. I know I had more advantages
as a blonde hair, blue whitekid than my black or Hispanic or Asian

(07:21):
counterparts, and that, to mewas an injustice that I felt very strongly
that I needed to help try tocorrect. Wow, thank you for sharing
that. Thank you for that authenticityand no doubt your journey through the foster

(07:43):
care system and then now going backand getting back and now you're at this
point now in your life where you'renearing the completion of your book. Did
the foster care experience shape your desireto publish this? And I know it
sounds like a no brainer question,but I want to ask it because I

(08:03):
want to hear your thoughts on thatyou know, no which is probably going
to surprise you and my readers.What shaped my decision to write and finish
this book were two things, mychildren and my mom. I wanted to

(08:24):
leave something behind for my kids,because kids don't really know their parents,
and especially kids that are adopted oryou become their legal guardians later in life,
they don't know what your journey is. And I felt at the time
that I started it that it wasreally important that they hear my voice,

(08:50):
they hear they see they were,that they be able to see what I
came from, which might explain someof the decisions that I made the time
when they were growing up. Andthen also when my mom started to decline,
I felt it was important to honorher, and it sort of evolved

(09:11):
into what it is now, whichis hopefully a voice for the kids that
are in the system, because whatI'm still seeing happening as I, you
know, do interviews and reach outto other organizations, is that a lot
of the system is much better aboutpreparing foster foster parents now than it was

(09:35):
when I was a kid, butthere are still a lot of nuances and
a lot of little things that aregetting missed. And I just felt this
it was time to to to bethat voice for those kids and to leave
something for my kids to go,oh, okay, that makes more sense.

(10:00):
Wow. It wasn't my experience,it's necessary. It wasn't necessarily my
experience as a child. It wasmore my experience as an adult and what
got me through some of the mostdifficult times of my life. And looking
back, I was only able tosucceed as an adult because I was able
to let go of what happened asa child, and that's really hard for

(10:24):
a lot of people to do,and it takes a lot of work,
a lot of work. That isso I'm gonna be honest with you.
Your answer did shock me, butin a good way because it makes so
much sense and it's it's for me. It's like listening to you speak,
it's one of those aha moments,like that's like, yeah, that,

(10:48):
Yeah, that would be the reasonwhy you would want to write a stay.
Yeah, you want to leave somethingbehind for those that you love,
you know, in a way thatdoes help them to understand who you are
and maybe even helps them to understanwho they are in their experiences with you.
I mean, that is such aprofound thought, Gino. I don't
think I've ever heard anybody put itquite that way. And I don't want

(11:09):
on a just gloss over what youstated that. Thank you for that.
I want to move on on toour next question because in your book you
cover a lot pretty quickly. Butwhat key message or things do you aim
to share with the readers. Well, I have two audiences I'm trying to

(11:33):
capture at the same time I'm tryingto capture well, actually three, I'm
trying to capture the attention of thechildren, that are in this system right
now say hey, listen, I'vebeen there. See this is what I
went through. Also trying to capturethe attention of the people that are caring
for them, and I'm also tryingto capture the attention of the public at

(11:54):
large. So when I tell thestory, I've kind of tried to remove
the emotion of it, and Itry to tell the story matter of factly.
It's just this is the way thatit was. And the overall message

(12:18):
that I'm hoping to get through toall three of those audiences is perseverance and
self believing in yourself, because that'sthe hardest part when you these kids.
From the minute they're stripped away fromtheir family, they're traumatized. Forget what
got them stripped away from their family. That just compounds the trauma, and

(12:39):
then they're put into a strange environment, so there's another trauma, and it's
just one after another after another afteranother, And by the time you land
on someone's doorstep or at an institution, you've already been through more trauma than
most people can imagine their their entirelife. And I want, especially especially

(13:01):
the kids, to understand that itmight seem right now like you're never gonna
come out to anything, and you'reno one really cares. But nothing could
be further from the truth. Asan adult in my fifties, I can
look back and I can see thateven the bad foster parents, even the
people that I ride about that werehorrific, they all touched my life.

(13:24):
And that's the message I want toget through to prospective foster parents. Whether
you're an emergency foster home, whetheryou're you know, a counselor at an
institution, whether you're a therapist,whether you're a social worker, every interaction
you have with those kids, haven'tyou have a chance to impact their life,

(13:45):
and you will impact their life.The things that I can remember are
insane. I still remember the nameof my first social worker. She's still
alive and she lives in the samecounty as I do. I haven't talked
to her. But the power thatwe as adults have on a child is

(14:05):
a lot deeper than I think werealize, and most people realize. You
know, we just grow up andwe do. We do, we do,
we raise our kids and we goabout life. And what I've seen
lacking so far in a lot ofkids in it, whether they're foster,
adopted or biological is I feel sometimeslike this generation and I know our parents

(14:26):
have the same thing about us andtheir parents have the same thing about them.
But what I'm seeing is a tremendouslack of appreciation. And what I
realized is I was the same wayas a young adult. But once you're
able to let the appreciation in forthe people that helped you get to where
you are, then you're able toreally live an authentic life. Having an

(14:52):
attitude like oh, I got hereby myself is not going to get you
anywhere. You have to let thatin. There's just so many different pieces
of the story that of the realityof the system, that it's hard to
put it into one little packaged answer. I could shoot out in five hundred

(15:15):
different directions. Perseverance, appreciation,gratitude, those are the strongest messages,
I think, even for me.One of the most horrific and abusive foster
homes that I had as a teenager, and I still struggle with the direction

(15:39):
my life was headed when I cameto that family, and the direction and
I just kept basically made a hardright turn. It was beaten into me,
and I don't condone that in anyway, shape or form. But
is a fifty three year old man. Now I look back and I think
what if I hadn't, where wouldI have gone? How would what would
I? And those are lifelong thingsthat you just I just have to process

(16:02):
through. It is what it is. I got through it, and it
did change me and I did getsome good things from it. And I'm
choosing as an adult to pick topick and pull from the good, not
the bad. Of course I writeabout all of it, but for me,
I carry the good and I foundgood in all of them. Wow.

(16:26):
Wow, that is that attitude thatdefinitely shows that you've this is a
journey. And I think helping otheryoung ones who share similar experiences to find
that piece, to find the goodand their experiences is is needed. And

(16:52):
you're needed. Your story is needed. So thank you for being great just
enough to share it and and andto lend your voice for our youth.
Now, how did your your ownpersonal experience and the foster care system shape
the content of your book? Becauseobviously your book you talk about not just

(17:15):
foster care, but you know justyour your life and its entirety. So
but how did your personal experiences inthe foster care system shape your book content.
Well, I mean, it's amemoir, so it's about me.
It's about my experiences, and youknow, there are there are a lot

(17:37):
of people that I'm certainly not theonly one. I think. What's a
little unique about my book is thatI grew up in a time in this
country, during the AIDS pandemic andcoming to you know, coming to terms
with my sexuality while in the system, and while how foster parents that were

(18:00):
openly hostile towards gay people. Thoseare things that foster parents don't realize have
an impact on the children they're caringfor. And so when I write the
book. When I wrote the book, I wrote the book to tell that
part of the story. It's sortof a it's not just a coming of

(18:22):
age story. It's not just astory about abuse. But it's also a
story about discovering who I was andfinding my voice. And there are a
lot of pieces to that. Andthankfully I just had a strong constitution,
I guess, and once I realizedI was gay, that was it.
It wasn't my problem anymore with everybodyelse. Actually it really wasn't. I

(18:47):
got super lucky. I didn't loseany friends, or have anybody walk out
of my life. So I guessbecause it's a memoir and it's about me,
that's kind of how it shape allright. I appreciate that. Thank
you, And so what do youhope readers, particularly foster character us,

(19:11):
we'll take away from reading your bookthat there's always hope, that even when
you think you're at the darkest andthe lowest, there's always hope, and
there's always a light at the endof the top unnel. You just have
to hold hold on. Yeah,that's powerful. Thank you, and I

(19:41):
do strongly desire foster care professionals andadvocates to not only pick up a copy
of your book, but too toutilize it as a resource in helping our
young people. I'm so excited thatthis book is is soon to come into

(20:03):
our hands. The launches is rightaround the corner. But I do want
my readers and my listeners to endmy audience as well as your audience to
know where we can pick up acopy of the book when it does come
out, or even when you hitthe pre sales. How can we access
this book? Where can we go? Well, first, I'm going to

(20:25):
put the first kind of a teaseron my website at Chiomadaras dot com and
it will be available on my website. It will also be available on Amazon,
and I haven't really gotten further thanthat because pretty much nowadays everything's on
Amazon. So I'm going to starteasy, you know, I'm not going

(20:45):
to try to over Hopefully local booksstores will carry it and we'll just see
where it goes from there. That'sbrilliant. Yeah, Amazon is the way
to go for all publisher today,including those that have been around for over
a hundred years. So wise choicethere. So everybody, you can take

(21:07):
a look at the links and thedescription of the show wherever you are listening
I'm watching, and you'll be ableto click right there to Geno's website to
stay updated on on everything that Ginohas going on, especially that book dropped.
Before We Let You Go, Iwant to just again and express my
deep appreciation for you taking the timeto be with us today. But more

(21:30):
importantly, I'm speaking to our youngpeople and reminding them that they have a
voice and that if they just holdon and hope and endure, things are
going to get better. So thanks, thank you for that that message,
Gino. Before We let you Go, is there anything else you would like
to share? No, I'm excitedto get the book released. I encourage

(21:52):
people to go to my website.You can send me messages directly through my
website or on social media. I'dlove to hear from you once you've read
it, and I encourage you toshare it and yeah and do what you
can to make a difference. Beautifulparting words of advice. Thank you so

(22:15):
much for that, and Gino again, you know that you always have a
place here on The Joseph Bonner Show, on any and all of our programs,
we always welcome you as a guest. Please know that you can always
come back anytime. I appreciate that. Now, before we let you guys
go at home, I do wantyou to stay tuned and listen to a

(22:36):
word from our partners. But beforeyou do that, I want to remind
everyone that today's show is brought toyou by Bully Intervenor Bully Avengers International Say
that three times fast, who continueto fight for our women and children internationally
through human rights laws as well aspushing pushing, pushing for an end to

(22:57):
poverty. I want to thank everyonefor all of your support for all of
our programs. Gino, we wantto specifically thank you for your support to
the Bully Avengers and our initiatives there. We appreciate everything that you've done for
us as an organization and your supportcontinue you all to continue to shine,
continue to believe, and as Gino'sparting words of advice to us are hope,

(23:21):
and I think we all can takethat with us home tonight and meditate
on that and have a better,better day, and a better week and
hopefully a better year ahead. Ginoagain, great interview, and thank you
again for being on today's show.We really appreciate you. Thank you.
We want to welcome you to thisnext special segment on our program now,

(23:48):
doctor Ario King. She is aninternational business advisor, but before traversing the
realm of business advisory, she hasdone some phenomenal things in the spectrum of
human rights and advocating for our childrenand our youth. We are thrilled to
have her as a guest on today'sprogram and we like to give and extend

(24:11):
a warm welcome to the show,Doctor King. Welcome. Thank you so
much, Bis de Bonnor and theaudience. It's wonderful to be here today
to speak with you. Doctor King, you are the founder of Aerial King
Solutions. As a business advisor,you help companies and organization. I'm really

(24:37):
navigating through the aspects of international growth, and I think with a lot of
small business this is out there,and even some of the bigger firms out
there who are finding it difficult toexpand, especially during the time of a
global recession. I really think thatlearning and gaining some insight into the process,

(25:00):
as in some simple forms of thepeople, will actually help business organizations
take that next step, take thatleap of faith, as it were,
and go international. So, doctorKing, first of all, before we
ask you questions more pertained towards that, I would like to ask you,
how did you get started in thefield of business advisory and why international?

(25:22):
Now? Thank you so much betterrunning for that question. I've been quite
fortunate from a very early age,I would say, from twenty years old,
to be able to go to variouscountries internationally, including Asia, Africa,
Europe and later South America. Assomeone who grew up in a family
of entrepreneurs, including my mother whohad her own business as a clinical psychologist

(25:48):
with testing and also just with helpingpeople in their daily lives. And also
with building businesses or excuse me,building buildings. I grew up in a
family of entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship in businesshas been a part of my life for
all of my life. I haddecided to get into international affairs and specifically
specifically international business as I learned aboutthe various issues between various not just countries,

(26:17):
but actually various cultures. And I'velearned very early that what could it
be expected in one culture in abusiness cannot necessarily be translated or expected in
another culture. I found that tobe absolutely fascinating because we as human beings,
of course, have some of thesame goals and some of the same

(26:37):
parts of life. We want ourfamilies to do well, we want to
do well, we want to educateour families, and we want our business
and to be successful. And Ifound it quite interesting that what would work
in one country or one culture doesnot necessarily work in another country and another
culture. And as a result ofthat, I've spent about thirty plus years

(26:59):
not just studying, but actually helpingvarious universities, businesses, and geos and
also multilateral organizations actually learn how topartner with others in other countries and also
how to traverse sometimes those difficult bridgesthat actually can connect businesses and people.

(27:19):
Fantastic and it's so nice that youhave a background with working on the international
scene and spectrum. You mentioned workingwith universities and organizations. Can you tell
us a little bit about what thatwork looked like. Yes, I mean,
you know, because all the everyorganization, every university, even governments

(27:44):
are quite different. You know.The first thing that you do is you
sit down and you try to figureout is this something that they really want
or is this something that they saythey want because they need to take the
box and said, you know,we asked for it, but it's not
working. Once I realize that thisis something that they really want and it
really is a goal, then weactually do an assessment of what's there now,

(28:06):
what resources are there now, andeven more importantly, where did they
think they want to go for Letme give you an example for a university.
We had a university that was quitea large university that decided that it
wanted to go from a local knownwithin the country to international and what we
were able to do is to goand have various meetings with various people who

(28:30):
were not just in the local area, but that wanted to do international and
we were able to look at theirfive year strategic plan, look at their
budgeting, and then figure out howwe could actually use their plan and their
budgeting to integrate an international focus intotheir particular university. We were able to

(28:52):
do that and as a result,they were able to get more funding,
and even more importantly, they wereable to connect internationally what they do as
a university nationally to the international FAUA. That's just one example. Wow,
fantastic And what were the results ofthat, Well, the results were quite

(29:15):
immediate. Actually, the results werethat they were able to connect to international
ambassadors from other countries. They wereable to have those ambassadors actually represent them
as a university in other countries andthat means within the international flora. And
then in addition to that, theywere able to allow their students to actually

(29:37):
experience some experience through service doing thingsin other countries. So they were able
to allow their students to do that. Overall, they were able to get
more funding because they were able toshow that they went from basically a national
university to truly an international university.Wow. Absolutely, and I can already

(30:02):
see the monetary benefits, especially fora university taking their brand international, we're
able to obviously work with a lotmore studentally. And I guess that kind
of answers my next question, butI still want to ask it. Can
you tell us a little bit aboutwhat the benefits are of taking your organization
internationally well? In today's connected society, young people are already connected internationally.

(30:26):
It's not just on social media.But young people don't see the same boundaries
and borders that many of us haveseen or have grown up with. So
as a result, going internationally orbeing internationally connected is an absolute. It's
something that has to be done inorder to stay in business, and especially
since most of our young people whenI say young people were talking about from

(30:48):
eleven years old to twenty five,twenty eight, they're already connected internationally.
So what businesses have to do isjust follow the trend of what's happening within
our world. Connecting internationally doesn't haveto be so complicated, but it doesn't
have to be intentional. And whenyou're connecting internationally and businesses connect to internationally,
they also have to realize that oneculture, as I said, does

(31:11):
not translate into another culture. Evensome of the same words in English do
not translate the same way in eachculture. So it's really important for businesses
to figure out what do they thinkthey want to do, even if they
want to start out small. Howwould they like to represent themselves internationally?
What would they like to do interms of connection? How would they like

(31:32):
to benefit those in another country,which is just as important as doing business.
How would you like to contribute tothe young people or to the people
within that particular culture. It makesall the difference in the world. So
for business, either get connected internationallyor find that somehow your business won't necessarily

(31:56):
shrink, but it definitely cannot grow. Great great response there, doctor King,
My next question in regards to expandinga person's brand and business internationally is
kind of important. How important wouldyou say is social media when it comes

(32:22):
to taking your brand international? Ibelieve that social media is very important,
but we also have to look atthe fact that not all social media goes
across all cultures. For example,many people know that TikTok is not in
China. There are other mediums thatwe use for business connection. For example,

(32:42):
WhatsApp is not used in many Asiancountries. So social media is important,
but it's really important also to makesure that what's being put on social
media is considered appropriate and also whatsocial media is being used is considered appropriate.
So part going international is really understandingthe lay of the land, depending

(33:04):
on if you're going to be goinginternational in Asia, South Asia, various
parts of Africa, and also understandingculture, not just culture in terms of
language and fluent, but culture interms of using various words, using various
colors, making sure that it's notan insult, because sometimes words that we
use that are quite kind and weuse all the time, are actually an

(33:27):
absolute insult. So it's really importantfor us to really engage people on an
international level in a way that ispositive for them, that makes them feel
that, wow, these are peoplethat understand me. These are people that
know who I am and what's importantto me. And as a result of
that, not just branding, butthere's a connection from business to business,

(33:50):
from person to person, from cultureto culture that's absolutely phenomenal, Doctor King.
And it's so true. Even whenI was out today in India,
I was it was pouring rain,as it sometimes does in this island,
and so I was already not ina great mood we were going, yeah,

(34:15):
and we're doing this interaction and thefirst thing, somebody behind me comes
up and interrupts while I'm doing myfirst order. But in India, they
at least in the island that I'mon, all they all do that.
It's just what they do. AndI think part of the issue was is
the guy didn't also didn't have help, so you know, he has to
make sure that he responds to eachclient when they come, whether they interrupt

(34:37):
somebody or not, because if youdon't, could potentially lose that money and
you can't really afford to do thatin India. So you know, obviously,
being from America irritated me thoroughly becausebecause you know, we don't do
that in America. We don't.But then I checked myself. Yeah,
yeah, I just checked myself.I said, you know what, this
is a different culture, and thisis this is his life, this is

(34:58):
his business. He has to dothis so that he doesn't miss his client.
He has a family defeat. Sothere you do have to situations,
especially if you're taking your business ableto understand so that you, like you
said, doctor King, not thatyou don't end up offending somebody and then
end up losing more in the longrun. I really think that's why it's
so important for organizations to have someonelike you on their team that can help

(35:22):
navigate and guide them through that processso that their brand is enhanced and flourishes
internationally and not the opposite. Absolutelyvery important, and it's not just by
region but also a country by country. As a person who has traveled to
India and have stayed for long periodsof time, but not just something I've
been to over I think now it'ssomething like seventy eight countries, and in

(35:46):
many countries, many times it's trulyimportant to understand the culture and to understand
what's important within the culture and someof the unspoken rules, because you know,
no matter who we are, wherewe are, we all have unspoken
rules that we just know. Andwhen you don't know the culture, you
don't know the language, then youdon't know the unspoken rules. And the

(36:08):
inn spoken rules are just as importantas those that are written, seen or
known, so makes all the difference. And you were talking about that when
they even came to shopping. Sothe person who interrupted understood that does an
unspoken rule, and that unspoken ruleis well, you know, if I
need something, and I think Ican give him just as much money or

(36:28):
more. He's going to take mefirst, right, That's not something that's
going to be there, But it'san unspoken rule, and unspoken rules are
just as important. And also protocolis important. So we also work with
governments, we work with multilateral organizationsincluding the United Nations, European Parliament,
and protocol is basically just another fancyway of saying rules of engagement. What

(36:51):
are the rules for working with eachother, speaking with each other, engaging
with each other? What are therules? And that's a protocol is so
Also I'm a protocol specialist and havebeen for years. I love what I
do and really find it quite quiteengaging to be able to help those who

(37:14):
are trying to communicate with each otherfrom different cultures in different countries on an
international governmental level, to do sowith rules. And of course, as
business owners, we want to knowwhat the bottom line is, and of
course it translates to money, youknow, yes, exactly, sometimes it's

(37:37):
money, but you know what's reallyinteresting, Sometimes there are things that money
can't buy, and that's reputation.And sometimes reputation makes all the difference in
order to not just have money,but long term engagement within a country,
right, not short term blast engagementof blast having money or I would say

(37:57):
having a row of income, butalso long term engagement, a long term
understanding of the culture and a longterm relationship within the culture. And many
people look for them, but meantthere's a long term relationship there. But
isn't that doesn't that also translate tomoney, right, I mean that's profit.

(38:20):
So yeah, and I think thatI think that's the bottom line.
I think people people want to tofind a way to support not only their
their families and their and their business, but also, like you said,
their entire brand and and and theirreputation internationally. And that's going to translate
to becoming more financially stable in aneconomically difficult, uh you know, society

(38:45):
right now. And so I thinkthat being able to navigate through these ups
and downs and twist and turns ofthe international world, it's extremely imp important
for business owners and having an advisor, And I'm just coming right back to
this same point, having an advisorto guide you through that process instead of
trying to do it on your byyourself and on your own, which can
take years. Have somebody that canguide you to the in a few weeks

(39:08):
or in a few months. Itjust makes more sense. And that's what
you do. You provide where youthink you want to go. And well
also it might even help to focuswhere you think you want to go and
what you want to do, becausesometimes we have all these ideas of what
we think we want to do andhave goals, but those goals haven't been

(39:29):
necessarily i won't say tested, butknown whether they match the market in which
a person would like to work.So it's really important also just to start
out with the basic questions, answerthe basic questions, and then set goals
and have those goals then be fulfilledinternationally. So yes, it really does
make a big difference absolutely, Andwhat are those basic questions and what are

(39:52):
those goals and how does one navigatethrough that? This is I think where
you come in after King, SoI I do want people to be able
to understand that as as they navigatethrough this or even set the goal to
navigate through this international world and taketheir business internationally, they're not alone and
that they do have someone out therewho can support and guide their business.

(40:14):
And as for Aerial King Solutions,so I think it's so important right now
that people know that there are supportand help, and that there are people
like you, Doctor Kings, whoare out there in this world who have
created organizations and businesses to provide themwith that support. Yes, and it's
a pleasure. And we really loveconnecting people internationally and watching them grow and

(40:35):
develop. And you've done that fora lot of people individually and including organizations.
And I'll even add my own organizationin that, so you know,
we appreciate it, even your supportand helping us tackle international realms that we
had not yet done before we hada chance to interact with you. So
your expertise as well as your trackrecord of success is phenomenal and I can

(41:00):
speak firsthand to it. For allof those who are listening are watching this,
I do want you to know thatyou also can connect with doctor Ariel
King and even help expand your businessinternationally. Just follow the links and the
description of the show wherever you arelistening are watching. It will take you
to her website as well as toher social media handles where you guys can
reach out and work with doctor King. It will be one of the best

(41:22):
decisions you make in twenty twenty threefor ultimate success in twenty twenty four,
Doctor King, Is there anything elseyou'd like to share with us before we
let you go? I'd just liketo say thank you so much for this
interview, and also no need tofear connecting internationally, no need to be
stressed. I'm here, I'm willingand able and looking forward to helping you

(41:44):
connect in twenty twenty street in orderto make your dreams come to internationally.
In twenty twenty four. Absolutely phenomenal, and we thank you. Thank you
for that, Doctor King. Now, for all of those who are listening
or watching at home, we wantto express appreciation to you for being our
supports. But before we do letyou go, we do want you to

(42:05):
stay tuned and listen to a wordfrom you all to a very very special
segment today. I want to thankyou all for joining us on our nationally
syndicated podcasts. Founder Magazine appreciate allof you for your continued support of our
brand. Are you maybe watching thison television as well? We want to
thank you so much for supporting theJoseph Bonnard Television Network and we're I guess

(42:31):
not surprised for many of you tosee a friendly and familiar face on our
program, and that is Fractional CEOKevin Willer. Today we're going to be
speaking to Kevin on a few differentsubjects. Actually, take a look at
the description of the show. Youkind of already got a good idea of
where the show is headed. Sowe definitely appreciate you for tuning in,

(42:52):
and we're super excited to have Kevinand welcoming back for another segment. Kevin,
thank you so much for joining us. How are you? I am
fantastic. Thank you, Joseph lovelove everything you're doing. You're a fantastic
human. So I just wanted tosay that, But I am doing well.
Oh Kevin, I I appreciate that. Well. We appreciate you know,

(43:14):
support like yours definitely gives me encouragementand inspiration to continue to try to
make a difference in today's world.So I appreciate you. And now,
where where are you at in theworld right now? I am physically in
Mount Pleasant, Texas, out inEast Texas. How's the weather out there?

(43:37):
Hot? Kind of like that foreveryone, huh. You know,
I'm plused to not to be engagedin any kind of poor weather like the
wonderful people you know, in Floridaand up the the East coast. But
it's you know, hot muggy.It's all good though. I love I
love that, you know. It'sso interesting too, because when you travel

(43:59):
the world and you get a chanceto meet so many different people, and
even when you're in places like youknow, a little small towns and in
America, I meet so many people, Kevin, and I'm always wondering about
people's backstory, you know. Ilove to see where people are today.
But I'm just I'm fascinated with history, to be honest. I love to

(44:19):
dig and get to know. SoI think that leads to my first question
for you, Kevin. Can youtell us a little bit about your background
and your experience as a fractional CEO. Yeah. Yeah, So, you
know, I kind of came intothis world with a lot of diversity right
out the gate, and I havethat kind of led itself to, you

(44:42):
know, into my business career.Being diverse. It's just kind of run
through my blood. So I've alda few different careers we would call it.
I was a special education teacher forfourteen years and did firefighting for a
number of years, and now primarilywell moved into the dental industry for eighteen

(45:06):
plus years and now doing consultant workthat initially started in in dentistry but has
branched off into other clients of indeed, because that's really all I want to
do, is help people take theirdream to where they wanted to go.
I find it fascinating too. Youknow, with your diverse background in education,

(45:30):
fire fighting, it seems like you'vealways been in an industry that required
you to give give of yourself,your time, emotions. It'd be very
taxing when you give so much.I know because I used to be in
education. But what you've done isyou've found a way to combine your experience

(45:51):
in all these industries with your uniquepersonality as a giver to be able to
provide businesses with solutions that they genuinelyneed as they face uncharted economic times and
the horizon though may not always seemlike there's a there's a son there,
you're actually helping them to find thatson just beyond the horizon, and it's

(46:15):
it's pretty empowering. I believe thatsomeone like you would step into this industry
for that purpose. So what ledyou though to start Simplified CEOO. Now
that's your company, Simplified CEO.Now, for those of you listening and
watching, you guys can actually goto the description of this show and there
will be a link directing you tothat website. But again, what led

(46:38):
you to start Simplified CEO and thenagain what sets it apart from other consulting
firms. Yeah, so great questions. So yes, I am naturally a
giver. You know. My focusin life is to help people, you
know, reach their dreams, theirgoals, make their vision a reality.

(47:01):
And so I worked for many yearsagain in the dental field, in large
dental organizations, which was amazing,and I was honored and blessed to have
opportunities and big teams, and wewere able to, humbly, you know,
win many different awards for achieving greatsuccess within these large companies. But

(47:23):
I felt like I was still kindof in a box where I went.
I didn't have that ability to helpmore people. You know, I was
doing great things helping a large organizationbe larger, to grow, to make
more revenue, and to provide formore patients. But what I wanted to

(47:44):
set myself up with was helping morepeople at the same time, and so
when I went back and really kindof thought about it, I decided to
start my own business as a fractionalchief Opera Ration officer. So my you
know, focus is to give highlevel guidance and support, but that translates

(48:07):
into many different things. And sodoing this, I've figured out that I
can offer my services and offer myexperience at a much more friendly price point
to a lot of other consultants becauseI was going to have multiple clients at

(48:29):
the same time. And it alsohelped me reach out from being able to
live in one area and not travelall over the country as far as moving
the family. I still do whenI reach out to my clients, but
it kind of gave me tentacles,i'll call it, to get out across
the country to be available for thatlevel of support. I absolutely love that,

(48:54):
and I think that your record ofsuccess speaks to the high value that
simplified CEO brings to so many organizations. So it does lead me to my
next question is as how do youensure you thoroughly understand the challenges and the

(49:15):
goals of a business before you providethem with recommendations. Yeah, so a
couple of different things one is crucialto me. That is a little bit
different than a lot of other consultantsin that I want to make a site
visit. I want to shake thehands of the visionary, the business owner.

(49:37):
I want to meet and greet theteam members in person. You know.
There's some of my colleagues, youknow. I think they feel like
if they can get the analytics,the metrics, the key performance indicators with
their experience, they can identify wherethe opportunities are. And that is true,

(49:58):
but it doesn't it gives you thatninety percent of a picture. And
that other tempercy is crucial because it'scommunication, it's connecting with other humans.
And so I make sure that Ihave a site visit. But within that,
yeah, the same thing. Youknow, I need my clients to
let me have access to financials,to any metrics they may have, you

(50:21):
know. So it's kind of anumbers data yet face to face situation and
doing all of that really encompasses whereI could make the connection to be able
to support them. That makes alot of sense. That's a great approach,
especially and that you are responsible forhelping this organization go to that next

(50:45):
level. It's so interesting because welive in a world today where everything can
happen technically be virtual. But tosee professionals that are still taking that hands
on approach when dealing with the business, I think it definitely speaks a lot
to your character and also to thegoals that you are helping them to achieve.

(51:08):
I'm with your support, So thankyou for sharing that. Now,
obviously we want to hear examples,you know, we want to I love
stories. So Kevin, can yougive us an example of a time when
understanding a problem that the business ownerwasn't aware of led to valuable insight and
solution. Yeah. So again,that's the key part of actually doing a

(51:32):
site visit, you know, aswell as drilling into everything else I spoke
of, you know there. Imean, gosh, there's been so many
as we go through even the weekto week. But I am out here
in Texas with a client, soI'll use a recent one, and you
know, they had identified that theyhad an issue with leadership. They just

(51:55):
didn't feel like leadership was getting thetask done that they needed to get done.
And you know, common thing,but just to make that decision or
to make guidance without meeting the leadershipand it doesn't really work. So flew
out here out here now met withthe leadership team this week. As we

(52:15):
started drilling into what does it looklike to implement the best practices that the
owners want to see, it camevery clear that it was a communication issue
between the leadership and the owners.And of course that's a tough thing to
look at as a business owner andgo wait is it me? But in

(52:38):
this instance it was. And sothen I needed to go back and explain
to them how they needed to communicatedifferently and be more engaged, you know,
with their leadership team. What hadhappened was the mission statement, the
visionary strategic plan for the owners,was it really being reinforced with the leadership

(53:05):
team, and they had lost sightof what was the big vision. And
so I needed to encourage those businessowners to have continuous connection meetings where they
do all training and leadership discussions tothe mission and vision of the company and
not to the task that needs totake place. Excellent approach, excellent approach,

(53:30):
very powerful. Well, that wasa really good example and I think
that I think as a business owner, especially when we bring on extra support,
you know, we we do wantto be around individuals who are going
to tell us the truth? Youknow what I mean? So even though

(53:51):
sometimes that truth is hard to hear, it's valuable and I'm sure that they
appreciated that valuable feedback. I alwaystell them transparent with you, you know,
Yeah, we got to have thereal story. I need to have
the real information they need to hearyou know what the real guidance looks like.
Absolutely, Now it makes sense thattransparency is key. Well, Sha

(54:13):
share with us another example. Canyou give us an example of maybe how
you've had to adapt your own approachto meet the changing needs of a business
and its environment, Like what wasthe outcome of this adaptation? Yeah,
so, you know, there wasa claim I went in this is probably

(54:34):
a couple of months ago, andthey had an issue with and again this
was a dental client with patients notbeing able or not saying yes to the
dentistry that was diagnosed. And thethought was that there was, you know,
an issue with the doctor not connectingwith the patients or with the team.

(54:55):
They have treatment coordinators that go overthe pricing with them, and and
when I sat in and viewed theflow, that wasn't that wasn't the issue
that the doctor was wonderful with connectingthe front desk, the treatment quarters were
wonderful with connecting. They didn't talkto each other, so the information that

(55:15):
they were learning, they weren't transferringthrough team members to be able to support
the situation. So I'll give youan example of there was a patient that
needed a crown right where a lotof us have been there before, we
needed a crown. They told thefront desk that they wanted to be seen

(55:38):
because they were going on vacation.I think it was Fiji, and the
front desk did not communicate that tothe dentist. So when the dentist went
in, he learned that yes,a crown was needed, but then told
the patient, you know that wewill do that, you know next month

(56:01):
when you have time, And thepatient didn't say anything and they left without
doing the crown, which wasn't greatfor the business, it wasn't great for
the patient. So I put togetherwhere huddles and checkpoints were going to be.
I call him handoffs, where inthe morning we're to discuss the unique
thing with every patient and during theday, as we learn anything, we're

(56:23):
going to talk to each other.So the front desk is going to hand
off the patient to the dental systemfor X rays, let them know.
In this instance, you know missSmith is going on vacation the dental systet.
Hopefully he's going to talk to MissSmith about the vacation as they're taking
the x rays because it's a goodconnection point. And then the critical one

(56:45):
was after the patient was set,then the dental system was actually going to
download with the dentists before they goin and let them know that I had
the dentists known that the vacation wasabout to take place in about three weeks,
which would have allowed him to beable to do the crown and get
it back from the lab, hecould have actually connected with the patient going,

(57:06):
I know you're going to Fiji.It's this is why it's critical that
we take care of this tooth todayand we can get you all fixed up
before you leave, and that wayyou don't have a problem with your oral
health while you're out of the country. So that was an example of where
really in the end we put togethera strategic handoff process to move through the

(57:28):
patient's journey. Fantastic, fantastic,and it makes sense that you would actually
want to be there to be ableto see interactions and communications and styles because
obviously every situation with the business isgoing to be different, it's going to
be in a different approach because thereare different issues, and so your approach

(57:51):
and the way you're able to helpbring the team together to achieve overall success
as which obviously for every companys bottomline right profit. So that's that's the
objective at the end of the day, no matter what field we're in.
And you translate that through your interactionsas a fractional CEOO and you've been doing

(58:16):
it for years, would simplified CEOOyour business and so a what a testament
to not only your character as agiver but also as your success as a
fractional CEO. Kevin, I knowthat there are a lot of people out
there who are eager to see theircompany grow. They're a little bit shaky

(58:37):
and perhaps a little apprehensive about bringingin outside help to support. What could
you say to help ease their fearsthere? Yeah? I mean again,
finding the right you know, leaderto a remote leader to join the team
as hard, it's difficult, Idefinitely get it, and I speak to

(58:57):
a lot of business owners are goinghow are you going to make the impact
and they're going off of that you'rethe subject matter expert, which is obviously
true, But more importantly, itis about people. It's about connections.
A lot of these clients have thestrategies and the processes within their organization,

(59:22):
they're just not actually doing them.So the group I'm out here with has
got a document that's a strategic operatingplan for everything that you would want,
but it just lives in Google Driveand is never used. So you know,
what I explained to my clients isthat I am going to be there
to support them in a way thatI'm going to identify their needs, but

(59:47):
I'm also going to teach them asleaders on how to grow themselves. You
know, a lot of times it'snot about having the answer, even for
me, it's about ass seeing thepowerful question. And so you know,
that's something that I go over withthem. You know, through the conversations
and through the leadership guidance, Ilet them know that we're gonna actually have

(01:00:10):
a relationship and that's not going tobe where I'm just the answer guy that
they're going to try to connect with. I would say that that's the important
piece that if you're going to carryanything any advisor shares with you, you're
going to have to set yourself upfor how you would even use the information.

(01:00:32):
These are things that I go through, you know, with the client.
Sometimes they're just like, well,I just want you to fix it.
Well you've got to be part ofthat solution or you know. My
goal is that you don't need anadvisor to guide you all the time,
just through the tough times, andthen you're going to learn the process that

(01:00:54):
helps you do it moving forward.So these are things that I go into
saying, Okay, this is howwe're going to set you up for success.
This is what makes me a littlebit different is I'm not looking for
the short term. I'm not evenlooking for it to be me in the
long term. I'm looking to givethem what they need to be successful well

(01:01:16):
after I'm not engaged with them anymore. Absolutely, And you know, Kevin,
you're the only person that I knowthat can keep such a positive attitude
when you work with clients to thepoint where they don't need you anymore.
I mean, that is the goal, I know, I know, but
it's like you do such a goodjob at it, Kevin, Like you're

(01:01:38):
just you do so great you're like, Okay, we don't need you anymore.
Like, okay, great, youknow what I mean, But keep
coming. But that's but that's awesomeagain again speaking to your character and just
a great success of simplified co is, you are helping these businesses transition into

(01:02:00):
having a greater impact and reaching andachieving their bottom line and doing it all
with a smile. So thank youso much for sharing that those stories,
those very impactful, powerful stories.Now we know that you actually have some
pretty exciting things coming up in themonth of September. Obviously for those of

(01:02:20):
you guys who are a little bitbehind on just everything that Kevin has been
doing this past year. He hasbeen on the cover of magazines and radio
shows, television. He's just he'she won't say it, but I can
say it because that's you know,I like saying it. He's got a
lot going on. So you havea magazine cover coming up pretty soon,

(01:02:42):
I think for people, if youguys want to check out his latest features,
they can go visit your official websitetoo, can't they. Yeah,
Oh absolutely, it's a www.Dot Kevin Wheeler dot org. Yeah,
so there's many ways that you canconnect with Kevin, if you'd like to
work with him or even book himas a speaker, are you know consulting?
He has his own official website,plus he has simplified CEO, so

(01:03:04):
he's just out there doing some bigthings. But I definitely want you guys
to keep Kevin in the loop,you know, let him Let's be proactive
in and staying up to date onall the great things Kevin's doing, because
you never know, when he's ina city near you, you'll get a
chance to work with you. Andyou're a company, you guys can always
reach out for that as well.Kevin, Before we let you go,
do you have any parting words ofadvice for an aspiring entrepreneur who wants to

(01:03:28):
have a career and impact like yours. Yes, I would say just that
to go back to, it's not, you know, as we become you
know, consultants, let's say,if that's or any entrepreneur, it's not
about having the answer, It's aboutasking the question. I think Pete Drucker
had said that in one of hisbooks, and it's so true. Always

(01:03:50):
be asking questions and the answers willflow naturally beautiful words to end by inspiring
thank you Kevin so much for joiningus today. Thank you everyone for joining
our segment. Before you all doleave, we like to have you stay
and stick around for just a fewmore seconds to hear a word from our

(01:04:12):
partners. You guys can check outall of Kevin's info and links in the
description of the show wherever you happento be watching are listening to. We
want to also give a shout outand the special thanks to the Bully Adventures
for sponsoring and supporting this program.All up to the Bully Avengers as you
continue your human rights investigations and workinternationally. Kevin, again, you are
a blessing to all of us.We appreciate you, and we look forward

(01:04:33):
to having you on next time.Stay in a little please give you one
to today's very special segment. Forthose of you who have been following the
path and career of Carol Davinny,you know that she is no stranger to
the show and we are so honoredto have her back today to talk to
with us about not only a newinitiative for men's mental health, but even

(01:04:55):
about a very special college that Ithink you're going to I really want to
hear about well before we introduce her. I do want to say that this
show was brought to you by theBully Avengers, fighting for international rights of
women and children globally. Your supporthas been truly invaluable, Carol, for
the Bully Avengers, and we wantto on their behalf say thank you so
much for all of your support andwelcome to the show. Thank you you

(01:05:20):
all more than welcome. Now,Carol, we know that you have a
lot of exciting things coming up inthe upcoming months, So before we get
into those things things, I thinkit's really important for people just to understand
your journey. You know, peopleknow that I love a good story,

(01:05:40):
and you, as the founder ofUniverse Poems, you breathe life into the
work that you do, the poemsthat you create, and even the people
that you work with. So canyou tell us about your journey as a
poet and how it led you toestablish the Universe Poems. Well, yes,

(01:06:00):
I also I've excuse me, alwaysbeen a professional writer all of my
life. But when I knew thatI would definitely write one day was when
I watched a movie by Stephen King, which is Misery, and there was
a beautiful scene outside of the windowof snow and sunshine, and I sat

(01:06:20):
there and thought to myself, oneday I will be a writer. I
had written a piece of poetry quitea number of years ago, and I
wanted to share that piece of poetrybecause it was very inspirational to me,
and so I decided to join awriting community. Once I joined a writing
community, I was exposed to manydifferent forms of poetry. I met many

(01:06:45):
different colleagues who I'm still there todayin part of my writing community, who
inspired me I've got to say greatlyalong my journey, and they still inspired
me today and we will support eachother during that period. During the initial
period of being part of that writingcommunity, I started to realize that I
wanted to write poetry, but makepoetry part of my professional career and give

(01:07:13):
people access to poetry and literature,but also create other services through poetry,
which is a healing art in itself, an ancient and that is why I
devise Universe Poems, because I wantedto reach people globally in terms of interconnection
that has to be at the forefrontof any arts organization, and so stipulated

(01:07:35):
I devised Universe Poems, and Iknow that we are reaching people globally.
We are already doing that and havea vast amount of people from all backgrounds
engaging with our work and services ona daily basis. We know that because
of the feedback. We get thepositive feedback as well as the comments and

(01:07:57):
people even wanting to use the poetrybeyond certain realms of where it's available,
so we know we are making ahuge impact globally. Well, then,
thank you so much for sharing that. And I find it so fascinating.
You know that moment where you realizeyou wanted to be a writer because I

(01:08:19):
remember the movie Misery. I rememberwatching it as a kid, and your
takeaway from that, it's just it'sso interesting how movies can do that for
you. Like, wow, it'sas fascinating. Now as the founder of
Universe Poems, what is your primarymission or vision for this platform? Well,

(01:08:43):
our primary vision and mine initially whichhas been followed through, is that
we will create an arts organization ofstipulated that will reach people globally. We
want people to have access. Themain mission is to have access to poetry
and literally but also other services thatpromote holistic health and well being. But

(01:09:04):
that's hard delivered through poetry and asI stipulated to other interviews, I believe
I'm one of the first professionals tohave cross applied my therapeutic practices with poetry.
But also we've devised many more programsand services which are on the Universe
Poems website. Once again, Yeah, I think you're I think you're right.

(01:09:26):
Like I don't think I've ever seenanyone speak about the power of poetry
and in emotional mental healing. Ido believe that you're the first person that
I know that has crossed over andnot just personally but as a company,
has advocated the use of poetry throughemotional and mental healing. It is.

(01:09:49):
It's to me very inspiring and encouraging, and I think that's one of the
reasons why I really want to hearabout your other venture with Hoolisom College.
Can you can you share some insightsinto the concept behind holes in College and
how it's designed to enhance wellness andmental health most definitely well Holism College is

(01:10:12):
focused on post sixteen education and personaldevelopment. We are all born as nature
and through natural biology, and Iwanted and we wanted to devise courses that
focused on nature itself, because ifyou're able to person center courses directly related

(01:10:35):
to nature, and people are nature. It's only going to enhance their holistic
health and develop their abilities in aperson centered way. People could be transitioning
not knowing what they want to gointo. You could be an adult that
just feels you want to develop yourpersonal development for yourself and have that connection

(01:10:58):
with nature as you are at allready. And so poly some college is
there for anybody, and we havecourses that's are on learned s us and
they can be accessed directly from theUniverse Poems website. But the courses will
also stipulate it vastly benefit the individual'sholistic health because it's connecting with nature already.

(01:11:23):
And yeah, I've had a chanceto take a look at those courses
as well. I'm very very timely, I believe, especially considering the world
that we're in. And I lovethe fact that you're encouraging people to get
out there, engage with nature andtake those lessons into their personal life.
It's an inspiring college and again thefirst of its kind that I've ever seen.

(01:11:46):
So it's also yes, it's alsoan expression outlet for people. Let's
remember that poetry is healing in itself, and the power of poetry goes beyond
words the fact of the man heis. You are engaging in something that's
going to benefit your holistic health.As I've said, I do believe also

(01:12:10):
as well that I'm the first personto have done that. But we are
giving people an opportunity in terms oftheir education to be connected with nature.
Poetry is an outlet, and it'snot just the fact that you're going to
be studying. You're going to bebenefiting your holistic health. You will have
an expression outlet as well with thecourses that we've devised. I myself as

(01:12:32):
a professional writer and poetess and authorsin my personal life, I've used poetry
as an expression because I do believein life, and I've said this before,
there is not always going to besomeone to express to. Also,
it will be developing people's emotional intelligence, which is your EQ, because all

(01:12:53):
of us will find ourselves in certainsituations in life and perhaps at the ending
of the day, if we havea reflective tool, because writing is also
a reflective tool, what we thinkat the time may not be the case
when we go back and reflect only. But it's also an outlet and giving
somewhere for your emotions and feelings tolive and with the courses with device for
Holisom College, poetry is the forefrontof that as well as nature. But

(01:13:16):
within those courses is encompassed self expressionfor individuals absolutely, and I really feel
that you're a trailblazer in this regardto bringing these type of programs to the
community. So thank you for that. And again, as Carol mentioned,

(01:13:38):
everyone, you can access Holisome Collegethrough links on Universe Poems and you can
find that all in the description ofthe show. Wherever you are listening to
are watching this shows, So thankyou for sharing that, Carol. Now,
Carrol, in today's fast paced world, why do you believe it's crucial
for individuals to reconnect with nature wheretheir mental well being well. People may

(01:14:03):
or may not know. I'm actuallya doctor of philosophy ongoing research, and
I am very well aware and individualsmay not be, but I am.
We are born as nature, We'reconceived as nature first of all, We're
then born as nature and we liveas nature. If you're able to connect
with the very being that you are, that all human beings are made up

(01:14:27):
of, which is nature, artand culture. If you're able to connect
with the nature of yourself at theending of the day and explore that it's
only going to benefit your holistic health. So in this fast paced world,
I would say nature is the guide, but also the therapeutic practitioner as many
people may or may not know.I'm qualified in forest learning and we can

(01:14:50):
replicate that in our everyday life alsoas well, because that is what nature
is there for. You are partof that, and it's only going to
enhance your holistic health abilities if youare engaging with activities that are nature focused
or services or programs, And Iwill just be the reason. I believe

(01:15:13):
it's very important. As you've juststipulated. Yes, in the fast paced
world we're living in, many peoplecan get wrapped up in television's, social
media, many other things, allof these game boxes and all of these
other things that's not really connecting withnature. Yes, we can go into
natural nature environments, but there's waysof connecting with nature within your home,

(01:15:36):
like programs, writing poetry, readingpoetry. There's so many ways that people
can connect with nature that's part ofthem already, and if it's part of
you already, it's only going toenhance your holistic health. As I said,
absolutely absolutely. Now I want tokind of switch gears a little bit.
I was going to ask you aquestion about a personal experience, but

(01:16:00):
I actually want to ask you somethingelse because I think it's so important to
touch on this topic. And that'sin regards to men's mental health. It's
one of those things where men arenow it seems like they're now being more
encouraged to speak about their mental andemotional state. However, it's still considered

(01:16:23):
very taboo for men to actually speakon emotions. However, you are running
a very powerful initiative through Men's Possetto bring awareness and support to men,
encouraging them to reach out and getthe mental health support they need. So
let's let's let's talk a little bitabout this. Can you tell us more

(01:16:44):
about Men's Post International Awareness Day andit's significance and raising awareness for men's mental
health, Yes, definitely. TheMen's Post International Awareness Day will take place
on the twenty third of September twentytwenty three. We had one last year
which was very successful. The waythat men can become involved in this day,

(01:17:05):
we wanted to keep it very simple. In the current climate, people
are living busy lives, and Iknow for my own research that men find
it hard to engage in things thattake a lot of reading or a lot
of effort at times, so wewanted to keep it very brief and the
way that people can take part issimply just to do something that promotes positive

(01:17:28):
self expression for them. That couldbe cooking their favorite food, going for
a walk, having an aromatherapy massage. It could be a haircut, It
could be listening to their favorite music, anything that makes the individual feel that
they are expressing themselves in a positiveway. On the day, we will
be as usual sending out lots ofinformation and resources that people can tap into.

(01:17:53):
But yes, it's going to behopefully another I'm sure successful second year
for Men's Pose because no matter whatwe say in society that we understand and
we're listening, there is still ahuge stigmatization around mental health for everybody,
but particularly men who are meant tobe seen as strong and bread winners,

(01:18:16):
is ingrained into society and not tocry, not to have emotions be big
and strong. And the fact ofthe matter is we are wanting to continue
to promote and we will as partof our work for the future as well,
that men have a voice and anoutlet they do not feel ashamed to
speak up if they're needing help,but also that they can find a positive

(01:18:40):
way for self expression and not bottlethings up inside, because that's what there
needs to traumatic experiences at the endingof the day for some people. Thank
you so much for sharing that,Carol. That's very enlightening on understanding the

(01:19:03):
significance of the day and what's theobjective is. I think it's going to
be an amazing, amazing opportunity formen to reconnect with themselves emotionally. And
I really really want this initiative totake off globally, so let's do whatever

(01:19:24):
we can, everybody out there tospread awareness about men's Pose International Awareness Day.
I think it's going to be amazingfor men that we finally get a
day to ourselves where we can saymy mental health matters as well. I
love this. This is gonna beepic. I can already think of how
I'm going to celebrate wanted listen.I want to encourage other men to join

(01:19:48):
me in the celebration. Carol.I love what you're doing and I love
the fact that you are reaching somany new heights to help others connect with
them selves mentally and emotionally. AndI guess my last question Carol is as
a poet and advocate for mental wellbeing, what advice do you have for aspiring

(01:20:12):
poets and individuals interested in promoting theirmental health and awareness through arts. I
would say, go ahead and doso, and don't feel that you are
alone in doing that. Many ofus have to walk a pathway where we
may feel that we're the only oneswalking it. But at the ending of

(01:20:32):
the day, follow what you know, you feel you can achieve, and
what you want to bring for peopleso that they are better equipped to deal
with their mental health. Because mentalhealth affects everybody, not just you know,
certain individuals. Mental health can bepostnatal depression. Mental health can be

(01:20:56):
connected for people who have all tismore ADHD. Mental health can because it
can become part of somebody's life becausethey've lost their job. Mental health can
be because you've had a bereavement.Mental health affects every single person. And
quite recently, I've just done awrite up which is on the Universe Post
website for Hollywood Hemispheres, which isa report that was in the Lancet for

(01:21:16):
psychiatry, and it clearly stipulates thatby a certain time, how many millions
of people will be suffering with theirmental health. But what they found in
the research is if it can becaught quiet early on, in the sense
of the onset of seventeen to nineteen, I think it is. The report
is online, you can read it, then you've got a better chance of

(01:21:40):
preventing negative impacts and mental health aspeople get old. So that's not to
say they're not going to experience it, but they found a significant impact between
that age group of mental health conditionsactually starting. So for anybody out there,
break the stigmatization mental health affects everybody. Mental health can be that you
feel that you don't want to getout of bed in the morning, and

(01:22:03):
that continues at the ending of theday. It's about feeling motivated. What's
stopping you, So never feel ashamedat the ending of the day, and
always do what you can do.Never give yourself too much. I'm a
great advocate for that. You canonly make one phone call a day,
you can only do one email aday. Things may not get done,

(01:22:25):
but the fact is do what youcan cope with. Because everybody's coping abilities.
And this is one of my mainI would say talking outlets when I'm
speaking to people in time to givethem information. You've got to do what
you can cope with. We're allindividuals, we're all different. Some people
can cope with fifty emails a day, some people can cope with, you
know, ten thousand phone calls aday. The fact of the matter is

(01:22:48):
do what feels right for you.I'm a great believer in that at the
end of the day. And ifyou're finding you rely on your friends or
rely on your family, ask andif you need help with something and they're
there and they're willing to help you. There are people in this world who
don't have family a table to dothat. But if you've got friends or
family, never feel ashamed if there'ssome help they can give you in something

(01:23:11):
that you're needing at the ending ofthe day. You know, some people
are very independent. I'm a greatrole model for that of independence at the
ending of the day. But thereare times in life we all need to
ask for help or you know,realize that we can't do everything. And
I think that's really really important insetting a basis for your stability of your

(01:23:32):
mental health in terms of a positiveway, do what you can do.
Great words of advice, great wordsof advice, and that powerful note.
I do want to actually get alink to that article that you mentioned,
and for all of you again watchingand listening, you guys can look at

(01:23:53):
the description of the show and you'llbe able to get an access to that
article. I think it's so importantfor us to be aware of of the
the mental health has even on ouryoung people. So I really appreciate those
statistics and I love that advice dowhat you can do every day and and
and reach out and ask her help. Excellent, excellent advice. Carol.

(01:24:15):
Once again, thank you again forbeing on today's segment and inspiring us as
you always do, and we wishyou nothing but success. We know that
you have a magazine cover feature comingout in London Sky, so congratulations on
that. We're super excited to seewhat's what's in store for you for twenty
twenty three and twenty twenty four andbeyond. Thank you so much. And

(01:24:38):
before we let you guys go,I want you guys to remember Men's Post
International Awareness Day is coming up.Carol. What day is that? What
is the day is the twenty thirdof September. Okay, so mark that
on your calendars everyone, because you'regonna see me definitely going going wow on

(01:25:00):
that day in a good way formy mental health, and I want to
encourage everyone to do the same thing. Carol, thanks again for being on
today's segment, and we please youknow that you always have a place in
a home here on The Joseph BonnerShow and on all of my platforms.
Thank you so much. We aremore than welcome. Before we let you
guys go again, one last word, stay till