Simple Tea Talk

I am both humbled and excited to introduce my next guest, Dr. Foojan Zeine. Dr. Foojan Zeine is a Psychotherapist, Radio/podcast host, International Speaker, and Author. She has her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology and is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist. She originated the “Awareness Integration” educational and psychological theory, and the authored 6 books including Life Reset – The Awareness Integration Path to Create the Life You Want. During our conversation, Dr, Zeine pulls back the curtain on her traumatic experiences in childhood, her journey of perseverance, how she found success, and her choice to focus on the beauty of humanity even in the face of trauma. If your ready to focus on making yourself a little better, Dr. Zeine has some lessons for you.

Folks, it’s “based on a true story” time. Today, I discuss my relationship with my late father. I discuss how our connection devolved later in his life, how I resented him for it, how I changed my perspective on the mistakes he made, and how that helped me heal, becoming a better version of myself. I only hope you will find some meaning or inspiration in this story that can help improve your relationship with your loved ones.

My next guest (and experienced leader) is Dr. Craig Van Slyke, host of the Live Well & Flourish Podcast. Over the course of our conversation I have the chance to learn from the Professor as he explains his background, how he found meaning in life, how he overcame loss, and how all of that could help you step towards a more purpose driven life. In a very powerful moment, Dr. Van Slyke shares the story of how he lost the love of his life to cancer. The lessons packed into this episode, thanks to my guest, are vital to anyone who believes they can be better versions of themselves today than yesterday.

After a self-inflicted hiatus, I am back to chat about how challenging it has been to remain disciplined and keep recording. I share a personal story of how I discovered my purpose (spoiler alert it’s intertwined with STT), and I talk about why it’s vital to continue to work towards your own purpose, especially in those moments when things are discouragingly difficult.

I am ecstatic to share my guest (and expert communicator) Amy Siegfried with each of you. Over the course of our conversation we chat about sports, living as a woman in the business world, and what international travel can teach us about perspective. Finally, Amy’s courage gives us the chance to discuss some of her personal challenges and how she overcame them, before she breaks down for me why it’s vital to build up those around up rather than put them down.

My best attempt to convince each of us to endure some of the uncomfortable small talk with our ancestors in order to discover who they really are as individuals. What challenged them? What brought them happiness? What gave them purpose? What caused them pain? Asking these questions to grandparents, great aunts and uncles, parents, and others in our families who came before us, just might reveal a story or lead you to a moment that helps you overcome a challenge you are facing in your own life. At the very least your bound to get some dirt on a relative or two!

As my first guest on the podcast Roman does nothing but inspire. We discussed his upbringing as a first generation immigrant from Ukraine, how his responsibility to his family drove him to be successful, and how he overcame the 2008 recession to establish himself as a digital marketing expert. You will want to listen carefully to this podcast as Roman is teaching and inspiring every step of the way. We dove into a discussion on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, from Roman’s own personal perspective, and swapped knowledge on our mutual historical understanding of why the invasion was likely impossible to prevent. Finally, Roman courageously broke down he and his wife’s experience with multiple miscarriages and how, rather than wallow, they turned that trauma into a quest to foster underprivileged children in their community. He took me to school as he explained just how complex and dysfunctional the foster system is and finally provided constructive examples of how each one of us can be a part of the solution. I just hope you get at least as much out of my conversation with Roman as I did!

Folks, I’m taking a big risk here. It is a risk though I feel like is worth taking. I’m gonna share in this episode (1) how I found the courage to talk about gun control in the United States of America, and (2) my personal opinions about gun control. Should it change or should it stay the same. As a warning, I do get passionate on this topic. I apologize in advance if that makes you uncomfortable. Also, although I reference Steve Kerr, Matthew McConaughey, and The Avett Brothers in this episode, I attempted to give each of them their own credit on how they have helped me discover what I think about gun control. Happy Listening!

This episode focuses on a bit of current events before jumping into the promotion of an exceptional not for profit organization, Send Me Outdoors (sendmeoutdoors.org). To promote SMO, I share highlights from my personal mental health quest and how I am challenged through the present day with PTSD symptoms.

This simple tea talk will hopefully encourage you to reflect on your own life, identify those stories that are meaningful to you, and share those same stories with your loved ones.

This podcast is designed to be listened to in episode order. This first episode provides a history of the idea for Tea Talk, along with the story behind what inspired this first episode. It blends a little wellness, a little history, and a little tea with an intent to encourage each of us to be better versions of ourSelf.