Habib O. Lawal has built his career by moving between different worlds without losing sight of what connects them. Engineering, technology, product management, real estate, and business development may look separate on paper, but for Lawal, they all come back to the same idea: understanding a problem, building a plan, and following through. Today, Lawal works as a Product Manager at Accenture while also developing his interests in real estate, business strategy, and professional networking. His path has not followed a single straight line. Instead, it has been shaped by change, responsibility, and a willingness to learn new industries. “I have always been very business-oriented,” Lawal says. “Even when I had a regular job, I was always thinking about what else I could build, what I could learn, and where the next opportunity might come from.” How Habib O. Lawal’s early life shaped his business mindset Lawal came to the United States in 2009, during a difficult economic period for many families. His parents had experienced foreclosure after tenants stopped paying rent on a property they owned. Without enough information about the options available to them, the family eventually had to start over. For Lawal, that experience left a lasting impression. “I saw what can happen when people own property but do not have the information or support they need when something goes wrong,” he says. “That stayed with me.” After arriving in the U.S., Lawal grew up in North Providence, Rhode Island. Sports became an important part of his routine. In high school, he competed at the varsity level in soccer, singles tennis, and wrestling. The mix of individual and team sports taught him different kinds of discipline. Wrestling and tennis required personal accountability, while soccer required communication and trust. “You learn quickly that effort matters, but preparation matters too,” Lawal says. “That is something I still carry into work and business.” From electrical engineering to technology and product management Lawal attended the University of Rhode Island, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. He later returned to complete a master’s degree in Cybersecurity. After college, he considered an opportunity with a major Navy contractor working around submarines. He ultimately chose another direction and joined Fidelity Investments through its LEAP program. The program brought college graduates into a structured training environment before placing them in different offices around the country. Lawal was eventually assigned to Jersey City, New Jersey. That move became an important turning point. “I did not have some grand plan to build my life in New Jersey,” he says. “It started with a job placement, and then one opportunity led to another.” Lawal remained with Fidelity for nearly five years. During that time, he gained experience working within a large organisation while continuing to think about entrepreneurship outside of work. After leaving Fidelity, he spent time exploring a networking business and opportunities connected to government contracting. Not every idea developed immediately, but the experience gave him more insight into how difficult it can be to build something independently. In March 2022, Lawal joined Accenture, where he currently works as a Product Manager. Why Habib O. Lawal entered real estate development While building his corporate career, Lawal began investing in real estate in 2019. His interest was partly practical, but it was also connected to what he had seen in his family growing up. Over time, investing developed into a broader interest in real estate development and community improvement. “I like the idea of taking something that is underused or overlooked and figuring out how it can become more valuable to the people around it,” he says. His work has included development connected with a city, an experience that strengthened his interest in working with municipalities. He sees local development as an area where business goals and community needs can overlap when projects are approached carefully. For Lawal, real estate is not simply about acquiring property. He is interested in the planning, relationships, and long-term thinking behind development. “Cities have needs, developers have ideas, and residents want to see their communities improve,” he says. “The challenge is finding a way to bring those pieces together.” Why networking has become part of his business strategy Alongside real estate, Lawal continues to develop a networking business built around professional relationships and collaboration. He believes many business opportunities start long before a formal deal or project exists. They often begin with a conversation, an introduction, or someone remembering who can solve a particular problem. “Relationships are a major part of business,” Lawal says. “You can have a strong idea, but if nobody knows what you do or trusts you enough to work with you, it can be difficult to move forward.” His interest in networking also reflects the variety of environments he has worked in. From engineering and cybersecurity to financial services, consulting, and real estate, Lawal has seen how different industries often depend on the same basic skills: communication, problem-solving, reliability, and follow-through. Building a career without staying in one lane Lawal’s career shows how professional growth can come from combining skills rather than staying inside one narrow category. His engineering education gave him a technical foundation. His years in large organisations taught him how structured businesses operate. His real estate work introduced him to development, ownership, and local partnerships. His networking interests pushed him to think more deeply about relationships and business development. “I do not really separate everything into different boxes,” he says. “To me, it is all part of building.” Outside of work, Lawal still makes time for sports, including soccer, tennis, and golf, while also prioritising time with his wife and family. The different parts of his career continue to evolve, but the pattern remains consistent. He looks for problems worth solving, learns what he needs to understand, and then works on turning the idea into something practical. That approach has allowed Lawal to build a career that is still developing across several industries, without losing the discipline that shaped him from the beginning.

Joshua Bird grew up in East Tennessee after spending his earliest years in the Smoky Mountains. He played baseball and football, worked on his grandfather's cattle farm, and developed an appreciation for hard work and responsibility at an early age. His athletic and academic accomplishments eventually led him to the United States Air Force Academy, where he was recruited to play football. He entered the Academy in 2004 and graduated in 2009 with a Bachelor of Science in Management. His time there gave him more than a degree. It introduced him to an environment where preparation, teamwork, accountability, and attention to detail were expected every day. Those lessons would become especially important as he moved into aviation. Learning to fly and lead After graduating from the Air Force Academy, Bird began his military aviation career as a pilot. He went on to fly the KC-10, eventually becoming an Aircraft Commander and Instructor Pilot. The progression required more than becoming technically proficient in an aircraft. As an instructor, he also had to help other pilots develop the knowledge, judgment, and confidence needed to operate safely. Bird was twice recognized as a Distinguished Graduate, placing in the top 10 percent of his class during the KC-10 Initial Qualification and Aircraft Commander Course. His aviation experience continued to expand when he became a U-2 Mission Pilot. Flying different aircraft and taking on increasingly demanding responsibilities reinforced a lesson that Bird continues to carry with him: experience should never become an excuse to stop learning. In aviation, preparation matters, but so does the willingness to listen, accept feedback, and recognize that there is always another skill to develop. Bringing an aviation mindset to engineering Bird's professional path eventually expanded beyond aviation when he moved into manufacturing and engineering with 3M. His work has included production and manufacturing supervision as well as plant engineering, giving him the opportunity to apply his technical and leadership experience in a completely different environment. There are obvious differences between flying an aircraft and managing the challenges of a manufacturing facility, but Bird sees important similarities as well. Both require preparation, careful decision-making, communication, and a willingness to take responsibility when something needs to be addressed. In plant engineering, his responsibilities have included equipment reliability, maintenance planning, capital projects, and operational problem-solving. These responsibilities require a practical approach. Problems do not always arrive with simple solutions, and technical knowledge is only one part of getting the right result. For Bird, the transition has reinforced the value of remaining adaptable. The specific tools and challenges may change from one career to another, but the principles of preparation, accountability, teamwork, and continuous improvement remain useful. Continuing to grow through aviation Even while building his engineering career, aviation has remained an important part of Bird's life. He holds an Airline Transport Pilot certificate and has accumulated more than 2,600 hours of flight experience. His long-term goal is to continue developing his aviation career with the aspiration of becoming a legacy airline pilot. That goal reflects something that has been consistent throughout his professional life. Bird does not view experience as a finish line. Instead, he sees it as a foundation for whatever comes next. His approach to personal growth is similarly structured. He starts with a larger objective, breaks it into manageable steps, and evaluates whether his daily actions are actually moving him toward the goal. At the same time, he recognizes that plans sometimes need to change. Flexibility, in his view, is part of staying committed to the bigger objective. A broader definition of success Bird's interests outside of work also provide another side of his personality. He enjoys fitness, golf, traveling, home improvement projects, and spending time outdoors. He is also an avid Tennessee and Air Force sports fan and values time with his wife, family, and friends. Service has remained another important part of his life. His experiences have included serving as a Survival Instructor for Scouting America, coordinating family and readiness support efforts, participating in a Squadron Centennial event, and volunteering for Prisoner of War Mission Day. His Christian faith is also central to how he approaches life. Bird has described success as something larger than professional accomplishments. Being a good husband, maintaining his health, staying true to his values, being dependable to others, and continuing to grow are all part of how he measures whether he is moving in the right direction. Looking ahead Bird's career has taken him through several very different environments, from the Air Force Academy to military aviation and eventually to engineering and manufacturing. Rather than viewing those experiences as separate chapters, he sees them as opportunities to learn and build on what came before. The transition from military aviation to engineering gave him a chance to apply familiar principles in a new setting. His continued involvement in aviation has allowed him to maintain a connection to a field that remains important to him. As he looks toward the future, Bird remains focused on learning, improving, and preparing for the next opportunity. His ultimate aviation goal is to become a legacy airline pilot, but the broader objective is consistent with the approach he has taken throughout his career: continue developing his skills, remain accountable, and make the most of the opportunities ahead.

Big developments don’t happen by accident. They happen because someone sees opportunity where others see risk. Gary Brar has built his career on that mindset. From owning a single gas station to leading a growing real estate and hospitality portfolio across Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Gary Brar has spent more than 20 years turning practical ideas into lasting assets. His story is not about overnight success. It is about steady expansion, calculated risk, and long-term thinking. “I’ve always believed in building something that lasts,” Gary says. “Not just a property. A foundation.” Early life and entrepreneurial roots Gary Brar was born and raised in Moga, Punjab, India. He grew up playing cricket with family and friends. Life changed early when he lost both of his parents at a young age. Alongside his older brother, Shivinderjit, he learned resilience quickly. “That experience taught me responsibility early,” he says. “When you face hardship young, you learn to think long-term.” That mindset would shape everything that followed. How Gary Brar started his business career Gary’s entrepreneurial journey began with ownership of a gas station. It was hands-on work. He learned operations, customer service, and financial discipline firsthand. Running a gas station may seem simple. It is not. Margins are tight. Efficiency matters. Every cost counts. “That business taught me how to manage cash flow and operations,” he explains. “It forced me to understand the numbers.” From there, he expanded into rental properties and hospitality. One property led to another. Each move was calculated. Expanding into hotels and hospitality investment Gary Brar Manitoba saw opportunity in hospitality markets across Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Instead of focusing only on major urban centers, he identified growth potential in secondary and regional communities. Today, Brar Investment Group operates multiple properties, including: Holiday Inn Express & Suites Hampton Inn & Suites Regina Additional hospitality projects in Carlyle, Redvers, Stoughton, Esterhazy, Carnduff, Melita, Estevan, Moose Jaw, North Battleford A developing project in Prince Albert He focuses on markets where business travel, local demand, and regional growth support long-term stability. “Underdeveloped markets are not weak markets,” he says. “They just need vision and execution.” Real estate development in Saskatchewan and Manitoba Beyond hotels, Gary Brar has expanded aggressively into multifamily residential development. He is currently developing apartment buildings in: Winnipeg Saskatoon Moose Jaw Prince Albert North Battleford Swift Current Lloydminster Calgary His latest Prince Albert project includes three new apartment buildings located near the hospital. The goal is clear: provide quality housing close to essential services. Units range from one- to three-bedroom apartments. Rents start at $1,450 per month. “I look at where housing is needed most,” Gary says. “Being near a hospital means healthcare workers and families have convenient options.” He does not chase speculation. He builds where demand is visible. What sets Gary Brar apart in real estate and hospitality? Many developers focus only on high-growth cities. Gary Brar looks at overlooked regions. He combines construction knowledge, hotel management experience, and operational discipline. That blend allows him to manage projects from concept to completion. “I understand the build side and the business side,” he explains. “You need both.” His approach includes: Identifying underserved markets Securing strategic locations Managing construction directly Maintaining operational oversight This reduces surprises and improves long-term performance. How Brar Investment Group operates Brar Investment Group operates with a practical structure. Projects are evaluated based on demand, infrastructure, and long-term stability. Gary Brar does not move fast without research. “I don’t build just because land is available,” he says. “I build because the numbers and the community support it.” His developments aim to contribute to local economies. Hotels create jobs. Apartments support workforce stability. Construction projects stimulate local spending. It is growth with local impact. Challenges in development and expansion Real estate development in Western Canada comes with volatility. Markets shift. Construction costs rise. Labor availability changes. Gary Brar has navigated these cycles for over two decades. “Timing matters,” he says. “You need patience. You also need confidence in your strategy.” His long-term focus helps absorb short-term fluctuations. He builds assets designed to perform over years, not quarters. What’s next for Gary Brar? Growth remains steady. The Prince Albert development is one example of targeted expansion. He continues exploring opportunities across Western Canada, especially in markets where infrastructure investment and economic activity support housing and hospitality demand. “I’m always looking at the next region that needs quality development,” he says. Golf remains a personal outlet. Business remains the focus. The bigger picture Gary Brar’s career reflects a simple pattern: Start small. Learn operations. Expand carefully. Focus on underserved markets. Build with long-term intent. He did not inherit a large enterprise. He built one. From a gas station to a regional investment portfolio, his path shows what disciplined growth looks like in real estate and hospitality. “There’s no shortcut,” he says. “You build one step at a time.” And that step-by-step strategy continues shaping communities across Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

When a well known restaurant or retail brand wants to enter a new country or region, it often sells development rights or a license to a local operator instead of building the market itself. On paper, this looks like a clean transaction: the brand gets expansion without the capital risk, and the license holder gets a proven concept with a built-in customer base. That framing is where the trouble starts. Many people who pursue these deals treat the signed agreement as the finish line rather than the starting point. Michael Aronovici has built much of his career around exactly this kind of deal. He acquired the development rights for Pizza Hut in Quebec and later secured an exclusive license to develop and operate Starbucks Coffee in Eastern Canada, a market that was otherwise run almost entirely through corporate-owned stores. His view on license rights comes from having negotiated, built, and eventually sold businesses under both agreements. The misconception: A license is a finished product The common assumption is that a license or development agreement transfers a working business model wholesale. Sign the paperwork, open the doors, and the brand's existing playbook does the rest. In practice, a license transfers permission, not performance. The license holder still has to do the full work of building a market: finding sites, training staff, negotiating with local suppliers, and adapting a national brand's systems to a city or region that has never seen it before. None of that comes packaged with the agreement. This misconception costs people in two ways. First, they underprice the operational buildout when they model the deal financially. Second, they assume the brand owner will step in to solve problems that are, contractually and practically, the license holder's to solve. What a license actually requires A development or license agreement typically sets out territory, store count targets, and brand standards. It rarely tells the license holder how to do any of the following: Build a supply chain that meets the brand's quality standards in a market where none of the usual vendors exist Train a workforce that has never worked inside that brand's systems Negotiate real estate in a market where the brand has no track record with landlords Set pricing and local marketing that fits both brand standards and local buying habits Aronovici's view is that this is the stage where most of the real work, and most of the real risk, actually sits. The agreement is the opening of the deal. Everything that determines whether it succeeds happens after. The operational work behind a license Over the seven years Interaction Restaurants Group held the Starbucks license in Eastern Canada, the work involved negotiations, expansion, and day-to-day operations, not just the initial agreement. That stretch of time matters: license holders who expect a short runway to profitability often misjudge how long it takes to build out a market properly, train enough staff, and get unit economics to where the brand owner expects them. The same was true with Pizza Hut in Quebec. Securing development rights was the entry point. Becoming the brand's largest franchisee in Canada took a decade of operational growth, not a single transaction. How to tell if you are ready for this kind of deal Before signing a development or license agreement, a prospective license holder should be able to answer a few questions honestly: Do you have the capital for the buildout, not just the license fee? The fee to secure rights is often the smallest line item. Site buildout, training, and working capital for the first several locations usually dwarf it. Do you understand the local market better than the brand does? A license holder's value to the brand owner is local knowledge: real estate, labor, suppliers, and customer habits. If you do not have that edge, the license itself will not create it. Can you commit to a multi-year timeline? Markets take years to build, not months. A license holder who expects fast returns is more likely to cut corners on training or site selection, which shows up in weak unit performance later. Have you planned for brand standard enforcement? License agreements typically include audits and compliance requirements. Operators who treat these as paperwork rather than as ongoing obligations tend to run into disputes with the brand owner. The practical takeaway A development or license agreement is a legal right to operate a brand in a territory. It is not a transfer of working knowledge about how to do it well. Anyone evaluating one of these deals should budget for the buildout separately from the license cost, plan on a multi-year horizon before expecting steady returns, and treat local market expertise as the asset they are actually bringing to the table. The brand name opens doors. The operational work decides what happens once you are inside them.

Frank Lauletta started his path toward law with an undergraduate degree from the University of Delaware. He went on to Rutgers Law School, where he earned his Juris Doctor with Tax Honors. That early grounding in tax law gave him a practical lens that still shapes how he approaches corporate work today: a focus on structure, not just argument. Frank primarily works in the firm’s Sewell, New Jersey, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, locations, and is a founding member of Lauletta Birnbaum, LLC. His practice grew around a simple idea. Legal advice works best when it lines up with the business decisions a company is actually trying to make. Outside counsel, inside the business A large part of Frank's work involves serving as outside general counsel to companies across the country. He works with executive teams on transactional and strategic decisions, not just the paperwork that follows them. His clients span software, technology, healthcare, telecommunications, manufacturing, energy, and professional services. That range means Frank spends a lot of time translating between industries. A licensing structure that makes sense for a software company does not necessarily work for a manufacturer. Frank's role is often to find the version of an agreement that fits the business in front of him, not a template pulled from the last client. Standardizing agreements to speed up deals One idea that runs through Frank's practice is efficiency. He and his team help businesses build standardized sales agreements, licensing agreements, terms of use, and joint venture agreements. The goal is to let companies move toward closing faster, without renegotiating the same terms from scratch every time. This matters most for technology-driven businesses, where Frank advises on sales, licensing, distribution, and royalty models. Intellectual property sits at the center of a lot of these deals, and getting the commercial terms right early on saves clients time and legal spend later. Guiding businesses through transitions Frank's practice also covers the moments when a business changes hands or changes direction. He advises clients on buying and selling businesses, on succession planning, and on shareholder disputes, including litigation when a dispute cannot be resolved another way. These are often the highest-stakes conversations a business owner will have. Frank's background lets him walk clients through both the legal mechanics and the practical business tradeoffs involved in a transition. Co-founding incutate Beyond his work at Lauletta Birnbaum, Frank co-founded Incutate, an organization built to give legal, business, and strategic guidance to startup and emerging-growth technology companies. The idea behind Incutate reflects something Frank clearly believes: young companies need more than funding advice. They need someone who understands how legal structure affects growth from day one. Through Incutate, Frank has built mentor relationships with technology-focused business incubators, working with early-stage entrepreneurs means answering different questions than he gets from an established client. A startup founder is often asking what to build, not just how to document what already exists. The Incutate concept has now grown to include four coworking locations (in Philadelphia and South Jersey) where the concept comes to life. Mentoring the next generation of founders Frank's mentoring work puts him in regular contact with entrepreneurs who are still shaping their companies. That kind of early-stage guidance requires a different pace than corporate counsel work. Founders need quick, clear answers about legal risk so they can keep building. Life outside the office Frank's interests outside law follow a similar pattern of commitment and discipline. He holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and spends his free time snowboarding, hiking, and mountain biking. Frank is married with three children, two of whom have been so inspired by Frank’s ability to combine business acumen with legal guidance that they have decided to become attorneys as well. His third child is pursuing a career in dentistry. Across his legal career and his work with entrepreneurs, Frank Lauletta has kept returning to one idea. Good legal work should make a business move faster, not slower. Whether he is structuring a licensing deal or mentoring a new business founder, that idea has stayed consistent from his earliest years at Lauletta Birnbaum to his work today.

Written by Caren Carnegie, Founder, Intuitive Momentum Coach, Speaker & Writer Caren Carnegie is a coach, psychic channeler, and the creator of Transform, a space where fitness, healing, and intuition meet. She helps people return to themselves by honouring the body and awakening the coach within. Recently, I realized I haven’t thought much about consciousness in a while. At first, that surprised me. My work and life are deeply connected to embodiment, awareness, spirituality, and what I experience as a connection to source, or universal consciousness. You would think consciousness would be something I spend a lot of time thinking about. Then I realized: I’m not reaching for it in the same way anymore. I’m in it. Aware and participating. I’ve noticed something similar happening with my thoughts. I’m not constantly using them to reach toward another idea, explanation, or level of understanding. My thoughts feel more like awareness in action, part of how I interact with what is already here. That has made me wonder whether some of our conversations about expansion, elevation, and becoming more conscious have inadvertently taught us to keep looking somewhere else. What if there is nowhere else to get to? We often speak about expanded, elevated, or “higher” states of consciousness as though they exist somewhere above our current experience, something to attain through the right spiritual practice, ritual, teacher, philosophy, or way of living. Those things can be meaningful. Ritual can help us pay attention. Spiritual practices can create space. Teachers can offer perspectives we may not have considered. Community allows us to experience ourselves in relationship. But none of those things can become our awareness for us. Consciousness is not found in performing someone else’s spiritual practice correctly or receiving someone else’s approval. Eventually, whatever we receive has to meet our own life. Our thoughts. Our body. Our discernment. Our choices. Awareness asks for participation. From reaching to participating I experience a connection to Source, to a universal consciousness. But receiving is only part of that relationship. What I do with what I receive matters. That is where consciousness becomes embodied. It moves through thought, but also through the physical body: sensation, breath, movement, instinct, expression, and response. It is present in our emotional experience, our perspective, our words, our actions, and our relationships. All of this is happening while our feet are quite literally on the Earth. Perhaps that is worth remembering when we talk about “higher” consciousness. Expansion does not necessarily require us to move farther away from our physical experience. It may ask us to become more fully present within it. More aware of the body we live in. More aware of the Earth we live on. More aware of our thoughts without automatically believing every one of them. More willing to feel and more discerning about what we choose next. Consciousness becomes less about where we are trying to get and more about how we participate with where we already are. When expansion is no longer somewhere else There was another part of this realization that helped me understand why I have sometimes felt out of place in conversations about awakening, expansion, or a “new” way of being. My thoughts were no longer reaching for expansion or elevation in the way they once had. I wasn’t continually trying to think my way toward another level of understanding. I was existing within it. That doesn’t mean there is nothing more to learn or discover. We can desire, and I believe we should desire, a deeper understanding of what life presents to us. But understanding is not something we have to demand an answer for. We meet it through interaction. We question, notice, feel, move, listen, try, reconsider, and experience. Someone else may offer knowledge or perspective that allows us to see differently, but even then, understanding becomes ours through our interaction with it. There is a difference between seeking greater understanding and waiting for someone else to give us the answer. One keeps us participating. The other can quietly remove us from our own experience. Expansion no longer has to be somewhere else, or somewhere above us, to move toward. It can be where we live from. We can want more without being less There is something worth noticing in our desire to become “more.” More conscious. More awakened. More evolved. More spiritual. More healed. Curiosity and the desire to understand can move us into a deeper relationship with ourselves and the world. But there is a difference between wanting to understand more and believing we need to become more in order to be enough. Every time we position a future version of ourselves as the one who has finally arrived, we risk overlooking the person who is already here. Even the pursuit of enlightenment can become another form of reaching if we measure our present selves against an imagined state we believe we should have attained. Perhaps constant seeking can sometimes make it harder to recognize the very awareness we are seeking. What if growth does not require us to begin from deficiency? We can want to understand more without deciding we are less. We can expand without rejecting where we are. We can change without making our present state wrong. We can participate in what comes next without waiting to become someone else, or for the environment around us to change first. Fit-ness as a state of being For years, I have returned to the idea that fit-ness is not simply something physical we achieve. It is a state of being. Being fit in the moment does not mean we have perfected ourselves for it. It means we are able to meet it, to notice what is being asked of us, recognize what we have available, discern what we may need, and participate from there. Sometimes we have the internal resources to take the next step ourselves. Sometimes awareness tells us that we don’t. That matters too. Being resourced does not mean possessing every tool. It means having enough awareness and self-authority to recognize what we have, what we do not have, and when another person may hold a tool that can support what we are building. That is not giving our power away. It is using it. Reaching out is also participation Self-authority does not mean believing we know everything or deciding we no longer need one another. In fact, knowing when to reach out may be one of its clearest expressions. There is an important difference between reaching toward someone to tell us who we are, what something means, or whether we are doing life “right,” and reaching out because our own awareness tells us we could use another resource. We can make the call. We can ask someone we trust, “Do you have a tool for this?” That question does not surrender authority. It exercises it. We remain responsible for discerning what fits and what we choose to do next. This matters because what we are building will require collaboration. We were never meant to possess every perspective, skill, experience, or resource individually. Someone beside us may see something we cannot see from where we stand. They may hold knowledge or a tool we need for one part of what we are building. Self-authority does not eliminate our need for one another. It changes how we meet one another. We can receive guidance without handing over our discernment. We can support one another without assuming responsibility for one another’s path. We can arrive with what is ours and allow someone else to arrive with what is theirs. That is collaboration. Responsibility for ourselves, with others Our responsibility is not to become responsible for everyone else’s awareness, growth, healing, choices, or path. Our responsibility begins with ourselves. Because we are in relationship, responsibility for ourselves changes how we are able to be with others. This is not individualism. It allows relationship to become participatory rather than dependent. I do not need you to carry my awareness for me, and I do not need to carry yours. I can stand beside you. Listen to you. Learn from you. Support you. Ask you for help. Offer what I have. Be changed through relationship with you. I can do all of that while remaining responsible for how I participate. Perhaps this is part of how humanity moves forward, not through everyone arriving at the same belief or following the same practice, but through more of us becoming aware of our own participation within the whole. We do not need sameness to build together. We need enough self-awareness to know what is ours to bring, and enough relationship to recognize when someone else has something we need. Momentum is not always forward I continue to think about consciousness much like momentum. We tend to imagine momentum as forward movement. We imagine expansion similarly, as though growth should continually take us forward and upward. But lived transformation rarely behaves that neatly. Sometimes momentum moves sideways. Sometimes it feels as though we have moved backward. Sometimes the most important movement is happening underground, where there is little external evidence that anything is changing. The Earth demonstrates this continually. Growth is not only what becomes visible above the soil. Dormancy is not the absence of life. Decomposition can become nourishment for what grows next. Fire offers another expression of transformation. It changes what it interacts with. Something may be released, something may remain, and something different becomes possible afterward. But transformation itself is not the end of the story. What will we do with what has changed? That question matters to me more and more. Perhaps we spend too much time trying to guarantee outcomes when our responsibility is much closer to us: awareness, discernment, choice, and action. We participate. What emerges from that participation will continue to interact with a world much larger than any one of us. Potential may exist within us. Possibility may surround us. We may experience profound insight, awareness, or spiritual connection. But potential without participation remains potential. Wholeness cannot leave the body behind There is another reason I hesitate to think about expansion only in terms of becoming “higher.” We are whole beings. There is wisdom in considering the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of our experience together, something I am continually reminded of when reflecting on teachings represented through the Medicine Wheel. These dimensions of ourselves do not have to compete for importance. They interact. A spiritual realization that never enters our choices remains an idea. A mental understanding that ignores what the body is communicating is incomplete information. Emotion can reveal something that intellect has not yet named. The physical body continually places us in relationship with an equally physical Earth. Embodiment asks us to include all of it. Perhaps expansion is not about transcending our humanity. Perhaps it is about inhabiting more of it. What if the “new” is already here? We hear a great deal about a new consciousness, a new humanity, even a New Earth. But what if we are not waiting for something to arrive? What if it already exists? Perhaps what feels “new” is not consciousness itself. Perhaps what is changing is our capacity to recognize that we already exist within it, and our willingness to participate accordingly. Already embodied. Already present in our bodies, in nature, in relationship, in what we create, in what we question, and in what we are becoming willing to see. Maybe this is why I no longer feel the same need to reach for expansion with my thoughts. I am not waiting to become part of it. I am living, breathing, working, and participating within it now. That changes the questions. What am I willing to see? What am I willing to feel? What am I willing to interact with? What am I willing to become aware of within my own thoughts, my body, my patterns, and my choices? Do I feel resourced enough to participate in what is here? If I don’t, can I recognize that without judging myself, and make the call to someone I trust who may have a tool? Then comes the question that perhaps matters most: "What will I do with what I become aware of?" Those questions return us to the present, to the body, the Earth, one another, and ourselves. There is enormous potential here, individually and collectively. But humanity does not need us endlessly reaching toward some future version of ourselves before we believe we are ready to contribute. We can become aware. We can discern. We can resource ourselves and one another. We can act, and then we allow what comes next to emerge through our participation. We are already here. Potential alone does not move us forward. Participation does. Visit my website for more info! Read more from Caren Carnegie Caren Carnegie, Founder, Intuitive Momentum Coach, Speaker & Writer Caren Carnegie is an Intuitive Momentum Coach, Certified Personal Trainer, and Speaker. She is the founder of Transform Fitness Coaching and creator of Transform HQ in Sebringville, Ontario, a holistic training space redefining strength for the New Human. Caren is an Executive Contributor for Brainz Magazine and an emerging voice in embodied leadership and soul-aligned well-being.

Written by Myra Swan Kotze, Executive Pressure Specialist Myra Swan Kotze is an Executive Pressure Specialist, author, Industrial Psychology graduate, and former Group Managing Director. Drawing on decades of leadership experience, she created Accumulated Executive Pressure™ and now works privately with women in senior corporate leadership. There were decisions I made during my years in senior leadership that were finished long before I stopped carrying them. The meeting was over. The decision had been communicated. Everyone had gone back to their offices, and another problem was already waiting for my attention. From the outside, we had moved on. I hadn't always. I could replay a conversation later that evening and wonder whether I could have handled it differently. I could know that a difficult decision was absolutely necessary and still think about the people affected by it. I could move straight into the next meeting, make another decision, and continue performing exactly as everyone expected me to. That is one of the strange things about being highly capable. You can continue functioning long after something has stopped feeling finished inside you. During my years as a Group Managing Director, I carried responsibility for hundreds of people. Decisions had consequences. They affected jobs, families, financial outcomes, and the future of the businesses I was responsible for. I understood that responsibility came with the role. What I didn't understand nearly as well was this: My responsibility could be complete while the pressure associated with it remained active in me. There is an important difference between the two. Difficult decisions still matter I think we sometimes make leadership too simple when we talk about decision-making. We talk about being decisive: gathering the information, assessing the risk, making the call, communicating clearly, and moving forward. All of that matters. But some of the hardest decisions in leadership are difficult precisely because there is no perfect answer. You may make the right decision for the organisation, knowing somebody will be hurt by it, or end someone's employment while still caring about what happens to their family. You may choose one direction, knowing another person strongly believes you are wrong. Even when you make the best decision available with everything you know at the time, you may still wonder three days later whether there was something you missed. This is not the pressure of trying to decide. It is what can remain after the decision has been made, communicated, and acted upon. That doesn't necessarily mean you lack confidence in your decision. Sometimes it simply means you are human enough to understand its consequences. The problem begins when caring about the consequences turns into continuing to carry responsibility for everything that happens afterward. Where your responsibility ends This distinction has become increasingly important to me. A leader should care. I never want to promote a version of leadership where becoming more senior means becoming less human. You should care about the people affected by your decisions. You should think carefully about consequences. You should be willing to question yourself and acknowledge when you get something wrong. But caring about something and carrying it indefinitely are not the same thing. There comes a point when your part is complete. Perhaps you made the decision, explained why, treated people as respectfully as you could, and dealt with what was yours to deal with. What happens next may no longer belong entirely to you. That sounds obvious when written on a page. It can feel remarkably different at two o'clock in the morning. Because your mind doesn't always respect organisational boundaries. It doesn't necessarily say, "The decision was signed off on Tuesday, therefore we are finished thinking about this." It goes back, replays the conversation, and searches for another answer. Because senior women are often exceptionally good problem solvers, we can keep trying to solve situations over which we no longer have any meaningful control. What still belongs to you One of the questions I wish I had asked myself more often in leadership was very simple: "Is there actually anything left for me to do?" Not think about it, worry about it, or mentally rehearse it. Actually do. Sometimes the answer would have been yes. There was another conversation to have, a decision to document, someone I needed to follow up with, or something I had promised to resolve. But sometimes the answer would have been no. My part was finished. The uncomfortable part is accepting that completion does not guarantee a comfortable outcome. Someone may still be angry. A former employee may disagree with what happened, or a colleague may think you should have chosen differently. A board may make a decision you would not have made yourself, and a market may respond in a way you cannot control. Leadership gives you responsibility. It does not give you authority over every consequence. Yet we can continue carrying outcomes as though thinking about them for another six hours will somehow increase our control over them. It won't. How pressure travels This is one of the places where Accumulated Executive Pressure™ becomes important. I use that term to describe the continuous, day-to-day reality of sustained executive responsibility and the pressure that can accumulate through carrying it over time. We tend to notice the restructuring, the crisis, the board conflict, the difficult dismissal, and the financial decision with enormous consequences. But an executive career is not one difficult decision. It is thousands of them, and if each experience leaves something behind before you move to the next one, pressure can begin travelling with you. You finish one difficult conversation and walk into another meeting. You leave the office, but the conversation comes home. You go to bed, but part of your mind is still at the table. Then morning comes, and because you are capable, you get up and do it again. That ability to continue can become misleading. We can mistake functioning for completion. They are not the same thing. When your body stays alert There is another part of this that deserves attention. Sometimes you are no longer consciously thinking about what happened, but you still don't feel as though you have come down from it. You may find it harder to switch off, notice that your patience is shorter, or notice that your sleep has changed. You may be sitting at dinner with people you love while some part of you still feels as though it is waiting for the next problem. None of those things automatically means leadership pressure is the cause, and persistent or concerning physical or psychological changes deserve appropriate professional attention. But I do think senior women should become more curious about what their lives are telling them. In my work, I call these Footprints™: the physical, cognitive, emotional, or relational changes worth noticing when sustained responsibility has been carried for a long time. The question isn't, "Why can't I get over this?" I think there is a kinder and far more useful question: "What am I still carrying from something that has already ended?" Recognition changes what follows This is where Recognition – Release – Recovery™ begins. Recognition is not analysing yourself endlessly. It is becoming clear about what is actually still active. Is there something you genuinely need to do? Is there a responsibility that still belongs to you? Are you carrying somebody else's reaction? Are you trying to control an outcome over which you no longer have authority? Or has an experience simply never had anywhere to go because you moved immediately from one demand to the next? Those are very different situations, and they require different responses. Sometimes release means taking action: finishing the conversation, documenting the decision, or making the call. At other times, it means recognising that the responsibility belongs to somebody else now. It may also mean accepting that another person is allowed to be unhappy with a decision you still believe was necessary. For some experiences, release means having one confidential place where you don't have to be the composed executive for an hour and can finally say what carrying that decision actually asked of you. That is not weakness. It is completion. Let the decision end I don't believe the goal is to forget difficult leadership experiences. Some decisions should stay with us. They shape our judgement, teach us what we value, and change the way we lead the next time we find ourselves sitting across from someone having to make another impossible choice. There are decisions from my own leadership years that I would never want erased because they became part of the leader, and eventually the woman, I became. But there is a difference between carrying the wisdom of an experience and continuing to carry its pressure. That distinction matters. Because there will always be another quarter, another person who needs an answer, and another situation where the woman at the top is expected to know what to do. The next time a completed decision follows you home, don't immediately tell yourself that you should have moved on by now. Ask whether there is genuinely anything left for you to do. If there is, do it. If there isn't, perhaps the work is no longer making another decision. Perhaps the work is allowing this one to finally become complete. The decision can remain part of your leadership without remaining active in your life. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Myra Swan Kotze Myra Swan Kotze, Executive Pressure Specialist Myra Swan Kotze is an Executive Pressure Specialist, author, Industrial Psychology graduate, and former Group Managing Director. Her work is grounded in decades of leadership experience and a deeply personal understanding of what it takes to keep carrying responsibility when everyone assumes you are coping. She created Accumulated Executive Pressure™ to give language to the often-invisible pressure that builds while accomplished women continue to lead, deliver, and hold everything together. Through Elevated Woman, her deliberately intimate private practice, Myra helps women in senior corporate leadership recognise what years of responsibility have asked of them and release the pressure their bodies have been carrying. She also hosts the Elevated Woman™ Podcast, where she opens honest conversations about the woman behind the leadership role.

Brainz Magazine Exclusive Interview A promotion can open the door to leadership, but it does not automatically prepare you to lead. The journey from being a high performer to becoming an effective leader requires new skills, self-awareness, and a commitment to helping others grow. In this interview, Noel Massie, author and speaker, shares lessons from his decades of experience at UPS, where he guided large teams and supported the development of future leaders. Drawing from his book, "Congrats! You’ve Been Promoted", Noel explores the challenges of stepping into leadership, the importance of intentional growth, and why human connection remains essential in a workplace shaped by artificial intelligence. Noel L Massie, Author & Speaker What inspired you to write "Congrats! You’ve Been Promoted"? Was there a specific moment or experience in your career that made you realize this book needed to be written? As Vice President of U.S. Delivery Operations for UPS in 2016, I would travel the entire country, meeting with business unit leaders. During these visits, I made it a practice to hold roundtable discussions with frontline leadership teams. It was apparent that the predicted baby boomer retirement tsunami was in full force. Companies were promoting managers and supervisors at a rapid pace to fill the gap, but their capacity to train and develop new promotees within their first year was a challenge. The first year is the most critical when developing young leaders; more sink than swim. Organizations typically promote their best workers into frontline leadership positions. When one of them resigns due to the stresses of the position, two bad things happen: you lose a great employee, and you also have to train and develop someone all over again. Getting engaged in developing young talent pays enormous dividends. It sets the tone for how they will value developing themselves, as well as others, throughout their entire career. You give to others what you have been given. Many people are promoted because they're great at their jobs, not necessarily because they've been trained to lead. Why do you think this transition is so challenging, and what are the biggest mistakes new leaders tend to make? It is normal for organizations to promote the most diligent employees into leadership positions. The hardest working, most reliable workers set a great tone for others. Their promotion telegraphs to employees what good looks like. While this is important, it is only part of the equation that should be used to assess who will be a strong leader. Leadership, while not rocket science, “is a science” that should be respected in the same fashion we respect the skills needed for any professional position. Leadership is “The ability to influence the behavior of an individual or group of people without coercion.” The biggest mistake new leaders make is failing to prepare themselves for their new role. Business owners and executives feed this error by failing to insist on a behavior-based development plan for the first year. I promoted hundreds of leaders during my career, not just new ones, and there were patterns. Most start out wanting to establish that they were the boss. They would then spend more time with reports than with people. These are mistakes I would make knowing their people individually a requirement. What is everyone on their team good at? What skills do they need training on? All leaders, and particularly new ones, must understand some key principles, such as: People produce results, not reports. People work for people, not companies. When leaders engage daily with team members to develop them, employees get better. Leaders were not promoted to be human memos. Leadership development has changed significantly over the years. Where do you think the field stands today, and what do organizations still get wrong when it comes to developing strong leaders? I led through six decades, from the late 70s to the 2020s, and leadership approaches and principles were ever-changing. There were always new data and techniques being introduced. Today, the biggest threat to investing in leadership development is the idea that AI will replace the need for physical leadership. When a toilet needs to be replaced in a home, AI will not be replacing it; a human being will. The same goes for the roof on a house or a flat tire on the side of the road. Someone will always need to get up and make the donuts. Someone will always be needed to deliver packages. Where more than one person is involved in an enterprise, there will be a leader. As such, effective skills to train and develop employees will be needed. Skills associated with conflict resolution, delivering professional daily messages, and providing motivational and formative feedback will be critical. Training must be available in these areas; if not, failure rates and company results will reflect this absence. Your book challenges some traditional ideas about leadership. Were there any widely accepted leadership beliefs that you intentionally wanted to question or rethink? My book challenges the idea that leadership training is reserved for high level and C-suite executives. Culture is created at the top; it is executed at the bottom. However, it must be intentionally created. If it’s allowed to create itself, it will. Leaders own culture cultivation, period. Culture is built at the top; it’s executed at the bottom. Organizations that value integrity and ethics make it visibly clear from the top; it’s not the plaque on the wall, it’s who we are. It’s a regular, intentional part of the daily language from the top. I would make it a habit to go on the floor and have discussions with the frontline leaders and their employees. A question they knew I would ask was this: How often should you do that right thing? Employees always answer, “All the time.” By doing this, I made it clear to all managers and employees what our values and intentions were to be daily. Artificial intelligence is transforming the workplace at a rapid pace. How do you see AI influencing leadership development, and where do you believe human leadership will always remain irreplaceable? As I mentioned earlier in this interview, AI “will not” become who leads the plumber, electrician, or body shop employee. AI can be a useful tool to train employees in various ways using simulations. At UPS, we had been using simulations for the last decade or so, and AI has enhanced this ability. AI will be impactful in replacing white collar professional positions. Software engineers are feeling this now as AI can write code. Financial advisors and CPAs will be impacted as well, to what degree has yet to clearly reveal itself. Thought based professions are where AI will emerge in a prominent way. Leadership skills will be a premium talent, particularly in the trades and union based environments. Will there be a human less society? That’s pure speculation. That’s not the case today, and we are discussing the here and now. Looking ahead, what qualities do you think will define the most successful leaders over the next five to ten years? Adaptable leaders will always be the most sought after. As a president of a business unit, when we developed talent, we actively sought and valued adaptable individuals highly. Everyone can learn technical skills; there are lots of smart people out there. Those who stay current with society’s trends (think driverless cars) and keep their skills aligned will stand out. The ability to communicate effectively cannot be overstated as a necessary talent. Successful leaders will be excellent communicators. If a newly promoted manager could apply just one lesson from your book immediately, what would you hope it would be, and why? The strongest principle in the book is the B.E.S.T. Principle. It is like the frame around a picture. All of the techniques I teach in the book sit inside the B.E.S.T. Principle. It guides all engagements a leader will have with their team, whether it is a performance review, a training session, or a spontaneous flare-up. This principle, when used, gives the leader an approach that will be effective in these scenarios. It states in any discussion: Examples: B. Be clear: Always state “exactly” the nature of the discussion. Concise statements, less is more. Daryl, we are here today so I can train you to drive a forklift. There are 37 steps you must demonstrate to be certified. When we are done, you must know them all. E. Expect the best: When engaging an employee, begin by stating the confidence you have in the person. Enhance their self-esteem. Daryl, I know you have waited quite a while for this opportunity. I know you’ll apply yourself 100% to this. You’ll do great! S. Stick to the objective: Stay focused on the task at hand. Daryl, we will only focus on this training until you are certified. When other topics come up, move the engagement back to where it belongs. T. Test Commitment: Once any engagement is complete, a verbal commitment to use the skills or change the behavior is required. Daryl, you have completed the training. Do I have your commitment to use these skills as learned daily? In the feedback I have received over the last year from seminars and readers, the B.E.S.T. is consistently mentioned as the most valuable technique they learned. What do you hope both individual leaders and organizations will take away after reading "Congrats! You’ve Been Promoted", and what kind of impact would you like the book to have on the future of leadership? I want anyone who reads the book to come away with a few things. Number one, that being an effective leader takes skill. Anything you want to be good at, you practice it regularly. Leadership is no different. "You can’t hope to get more than you give." Don’t give it anything, then why should you be effective? Number two, "There are no casual moments in leadership." Because, there aren’t. A leader’s actions are always being evaluated. Your employees see what you do and who you talk to the most. Leaders don’t get to have favorites, for example. Leadership is not a promotion; it’s a responsibility. To learn more about Noel’s work and stay connected, follow him on LinkedIn, Instagram, or visit his website for more insights, updates, and resources.

Written by Kenneth J. Breniman, Grief Guide & Mindfully Mortal Therapist Ken Breniman is a queer author, licensed clinical social worker, certified yoga therapist, and thanatologist guiding fellow mindful mortals at the threshold of life, death, devotion, and (r)evolution. His work blends neuroscience, primatology, Celtic wisdom, and psychedelic integration to invite braver ways of being human. As a naked yoga teacher for men for more than 20 years, I was chagrined to see another naked body become a New York Times headline. What is humanity doing? We have these wonderful human bodies, yet we keep finding ways to attempt to make them a scandal. Meanwhile, I’ve spent decades holding space for men carrying shame and self-hatred, trying to take little bits of that away as we practice naked. Reading the full New York Times (NYT) article gave my bemusement a more specific direction. In Amelie Claydon’s reporting for The Athletic, published on the Times’ website, female athletes challenge Sydney Sweeney’s advertisement for the sports prediction market Novig. The campaign features an otherwise naked Sweeney covering herself with sports equipment. Athletes, including sprinter Amy Hunt and swimmer Ariarne Titmus, object to the sexualization of women in sports, answering with images and accounts of their own strength, training, and dedication. I hear them. Women who have worked relentlessly to have their abilities taken seriously deserve better than another conversation organized around their sexual appeal. Their criticism is about how a body is being used. My concern is what happens when that conversation slips into treating the body itself as the offense. Protective gear and fancy athletic wear have their place. Cringing at another person’s choice to share their body reveals a different social issue: our discomfort with nakedness itself. We can question what an advertisement is selling while respecting someone’s choice to appear in it. A body doesn’t become shameful because it shows up without a uniform. Can we challenge objectification without adding to the shame people already carry? What are we doing with ourselves by fixating on this? One detail in the article deserves more attention than the strategically placed sporting goods. Novig’s chief executive described the campaign as a way to force the company into national discussion. Sweeney is an equity partner who helped develop its message. Our attention is part of the business arrangement, whether we arrive applauding, scolding, or forwarding the controversy to everyone we know. Before we donate another afternoon to the campaign, I’d like us to ask what we are learning from it and who is benefiting. There is always another flaw to finance We know how to sell bodies and sell things to bodies. Shrink this. Enlarge that. Tighten whatever has had the audacity to age. Then we wonder why people struggle to feel comfortable in their own skin. There is always another flaw to finance, and apparently even our outrage can be put to work. In my naked yoga classes, I meet the human beings living with those messages. Too fat, too thin, too old, too hairy, too small. Men who have learned to measure their worth against bodies selected, posed, and presented for an audience. Sometimes I catch myself saying they were born with shame. They were born naked. The shame required instruction. As a gay man, licensed clinical social worker, and yoga therapist, I have spent years helping people question what they were taught about themselves. Naked yoga is one place where that questioning becomes physical. We breathe, stretch, wobble, and practice being seen without constantly correcting ourselves. Gravity offers the same customer service to everyone. Taking off clothing does not automatically make someone feel free. It can bring discomfort closer to the surface, which is why consent, privacy, and clear boundaries are essential. Nobody owes anyone access to their body. But adults who choose this practice deserve room to experience it without being treated as though they have confused a yoga studio with a sex club. Japan deserves a place in this conversation. Japan’s tradition of communal bathing deserves to be named. In onsen, or hot spring baths, and sento, public bathhouses, people bathe naked together, generally in separate bathing areas for men and women. There are expectations about washing first, respecting others, and behaving considerately. Ordinary nakedness belongs within an established social practice. People can share a bath without everybody becoming a sexual proposition. Japanese bathing etiquette. I’ve also watched German television programs where fully naked women stood while anatomy was discussed with a matter-of-factness I found affirming and refreshing. The bodies were visible, the conversation continued, and civilization survived. In Finland, naked sauna bathing is customary, and guidance on sauna culture explicitly distinguishes the practice from sex while accommodating different preferences about covering up. These cultures have their own contradictions. I’m not handing out gold medals for national enlightenment. I’m asking why we act as though our discomfort is an unavoidable truth about being human. Other settings demonstrate that people can learn to encounter nakedness with composure, courtesy, and very little drama. We can learn, too. A few questions for the habitually clothed The “Heterosexual Questionnaire,” attributed to Martin Rochlin, challenged prejudice by reversing familiar interrogations of gay people: “What do you think caused your heterosexuality?” and “When and where did you decide you were a heterosexual?” As a gay man, I appreciate how quickly a supposedly reasonable question reveals itself when the person asking it has to answer. So let’s give our assumptions about clothing a turn. Were you raised in a clothed household, and do you think that influenced your lifestyle? If nudity is inherently sexual, how do you manage a shower? Have you ever confused being appropriately dressed with being a decent person? If consenting adults practice naked yoga in a private room, what exactly needs rescuing? Keep your clothes on while considering your answers. Clothing offers warmth, protection, self-expression, and excellent pockets. Faith, culture, and personal comfort are good reasons to cover ourselves. We can respect those choices while questioning the lesson that somebody else’s bare skin is a character defect. Every naked body is sacred, can we act like it? I have often said that every body is beautiful, and I understand the tenderness behind those words. Still, on a day when you cannot find yourself beautiful, do you have permission to stop being cruel to yourself? Your body should not have to win you over aesthetically before it qualifies for care. For more about the health benefits of being naked, check out this article from the Netherlands. That is something we can practice without undressing. Notice whose voice you hear when you criticize your appearance. Ask whether a comment about somebody else’s body was invited. Move, rest, or stretch without making improvement the price of participation. When a headline provokes you, read closely enough to distinguish your reaction from what the people involved are actually saying. The athletes in this story are asking for their work to be recognized. I am asking us to examine the shame that makes simply inhabiting a body so difficult. We have enough intelligence to hold both conversations, and enough humanity to stop turning every body into something to grade. As a NYT-featured certified death doula, I am aware of how little time we have to waste despising the bodies that carry us. There are people to hold, losses to grieve, and some dancing left to do. During this Anthropocene, with so much asking for our care, I want to know what becomes possible when we reclaim some of the attention we spend policing flesh. For more than two decades, I’ve helped male-bodied humans practice putting down something they were never born carrying. I call that a subversive act of humanity. The clothes are the easy part. Naked yoga classes already exist around the world, with gay men helping create spaces where we can move, breathe, and celebrate our bodies without shame. Could Ms. Sweeney and the athletes challenging her campaign help nudge that conversation forward? Imagine using this attention to create more safe and brave spaces where being naked doesn’t require a sales pitch, an athletic achievement, or an apology. Thank you, Ms. Sweeney, for baring the naked truth, and the New York Times for daring to share a story that gets us talking. Now let’s give that conversation somewhere brave and humane to go. Follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Kenneth J. Breniman Kenneth J. Breniman, Grief Guide & Mindfully Mortal Therapist Ken Breniman is a queer author, licensed clinical social worker, certified yoga therapist, and thanatologist whose work lives at the intersection of mortality, meaning, and transformation. Drawing from neuroscience, primatology, Celtic wisdom, and psychedelic integration, he challenges the myth of human exceptionalism while honoring the precious role each of us plays in the ongoing evolution of our species. Ken is the author of a three-body solution and subversive acts of humanity, and the creator of the See-Soul children’s grief literacy series. Through writing, teaching, and ritual-informed practice, he guides mindful mortals toward deeper humility, resilience, and collective becoming.

Written by Gillian Jones-Williams, Emerge Development Consultancy Gillian is the Managing Director of Emerge Development Consultancy, which she founded 30 years ago. She is a Master Executive Coach for global CEOs and Managing Directors, an international speaker, and an award-winning leader. Recognized as a leading United Kingdom female entrepreneur in 2020 and Leader of the Year in 2023, she was named Businesswoman of the Decade in 2024. After 30 years of being the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a training company, I have watched thousands of people walk out of a training room (and, more recently, away from a virtual session) excited and motivated to go and try new tools and do things differently. I watch their physiology change as they engage with each other and the training material and think about how to be, act, and think differently. It’s almost like watching lights switch on. So many different rooms, different years, different reasons for being there, but the feeling is always the same. They've just spent a day, or two, or three, working out how they want to lead, how they want to show up, and what they're finally going to stop putting up with. For a short period afterward, they are intentional, clear-headed, and ready to implement their actions. Then Monday happens. When I say Monday, I use that as a loose metaphor for real life. It could take a month, a week, or even, sadly, just a day, but “real life” takes over. The inbox is full, the meeting that was in the diary before the course is still in the diary. Nobody in the office was in the training room with them, so nobody knows what they meant when they say they're “going to be more assertive this time” or “actually deal with it properly” instead of letting it slide again. The energy doesn't disappear all at once, it just quietly runs out, probably on average somewhere around week three, when the old habit turns out to be a lot more comfortable than the new one. I've been coaching and training for thirty years now, and I still find this the hardest part of the job to watch. We love to build reviews into our programmes, and often when I set them off for the review, they start by saying, “I haven’t really had much time to do anything, work has been overwhelming,” which is so disappointing. However, once they start talking, they often recognise that they have been doing small things, but not the big actions they intended to when they left the last session. Not because the training didn't work, it delivered everything that the client had asked for, often more, and people leave genuinely changed, at least for a while. The problem was never what happens in the room. It's what doesn't happen after it. That's not a flaw in how the course was designed or delivered. It is a gap in how the whole industry is built. We pour everything into the room, the venue, the facilitator, the materials, and the follow-up survey two weeks later asking people to rate their experience out of ten. Then the momentum disappears. Aside from some very dedicated managers who do keep following up with them, there is little or no support. No one checking in when the new habit gets hard, no one there at ten past nine on a Tuesday morning when the exact situation the course covered turns up in real life, and the only person in the room is the one still deciding whether to do it the old way or the new way. It is a perennial struggle for Human Resources (HR) and Learning professionals in a business. Most of our clients will talk to us during the contracting stage about how we will make the coaching stick, how to evaluate it, and how to understand the impact of the training, and we are always happy to give pages of meaningful suggestions. But the reality of embedding training and keeping the momentum going depends so much on managers really supporting people, the delegates having the time to review their training plans or meet up with their coaching buddies, the business staying calm enough not to make strenuous operational demands on people, and peers and colleagues encouraging them. It is very rare that those situations align in the right way. It is here that we have to start thinking creatively about what else can be done to truly support the learner and really embed the knowledge and skills. Anyone who knows me knows that I am passionate about coaching, and as an early adopter of coaching 30 years ago, I was prolific in helping organisations put in robust systems for managing coaching in the workplace. I wrote my first coaching tool down in 2007, mostly because I kept doing something useful in a session and then forgetting how I'd done it. That became 50 Top Tools for Coaching in 2009, and now, six editions in, we are still adding chapters because coaching itself keeps teaching me things I didn't know I didn't know. But one thing hasn't changed across any of those editions: the tools work best live, in the room, with someone asking the next question at exactly the right moment. So we know that coaching works. What actually helps someone hold onto a change isn't giving them more content, another workbook, or a video that they never quite get round to watching. It's a question, at the right moment, from someone who already knows their action plan and what they said they would do when they return to the workplace. When someone asks, “What did we say about this?” it can snap someone right back into the training room, where an exercise or discussion just hit a lightbulb moment, and reactivate the motivation to do something different. Without that question being asked, it is easy for someone to quietly talk themselves out of a change. If someone notices that they have gone quiet on the thing they were fired up about three weeks ago and reminds them of the benefits of the change, then it is far more likely that the training gets applied. However, that is genuinely difficult to deliver at scale because budgets are continuously being squeezed, and organisations cannot afford to attach coaches to every training programme. Some organisations are insightful enough to put in mentoring programmes, but even those probably only meet every month or so. Often my delegates say, “I wish you could be in the workplace in that situation with me,” and sadly, I can't be in everyone's Tuesday morning to give them a shot in the arm of confidence and assertiveness. I wish I could. I think the next real shift in our industry isn't going to be about running better courses. We are already quite good at that part. It's going to be about what happens in the six months after the course, once the momentum is long gone and the only person left in the process is the one who actually has to live the change. I don't think that gap gets closed by more training. I think it gets closed by something willing to show up in the ordinary, unglamorous moments, the Tuesday mornings, not just the big two-day event everyone remembers fondly a year later. It’s time to spend more energy and creativity thinking about what else happens after the training rather than the actual event. This is true for online training, webinars, videos, and any other type of blended learning. I don't have a tidy answer to what that looks like yet, not one I'm ready to talk about publicly quite yet, but it is one that has been occupying our thoughts for most of this year. If you've ever left a brilliant course fired up and then quietly slipped back to who you were before by the time autumn came round, you already know exactly the gap I mean. I don't think you were the problem. I think those of us who run the courses left you on your own at the exact moment you needed someone most. That's the part I want to fix next. Connect with me on LinkedIn and visit my website. Read more from Gillian Jones-Williams Gillian Jones-Williams, Emerge Development Consultancy Gillian is Managing Director of Emerge Development Consultancy, which she founded 30 years ago. She is a Master Executive Coach working with many CEOs and Managing Directors globally. She is also an international speaker and in 2020 was named by f: Entrepreneur as one of the leading UK Female Entrepreneurs in the "I also campaign." In 2024, she was awarded Businesswoman of the Decade by the Women’s Business Club. Gillian founded the RISE Women’s Development Programme, which is delivered both in the UK and the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, and is her absolute passion. If you want to know more about our Diversity and Inclusion solutions, or leadership and management development, please get in touch. We are working with many organisations on their Diversity and Inclusion interventions, strategies, policies and programmes. For more information, contact us on 01329 820580 or via info@emergeuk.com. She is a Certified Non-Executive Director and has spent three decades working with boards and leadership teams on the behaviours that determine how well they function together.

Written by Anna Sarach, Japanese Natural Facelift Specialist & Kobido Expert Anna Sarach is a Japanese Natural Facelift Specialist and Kobido Expert. She helps people embrace natural aging with confidence through the power of holistic touch. My mission is to redefine beauty by showing that true rejuvenation comes from nurturing both the skin and the person within. We tend to think of stress as something purely mental: racing thoughts, trouble switching off, a short temper, that constant sense of being overwhelmed. But stress doesn't stay in the mind. It shows up in the body, and often, right on our face. Check in with yourself at the end of a long day. Is your jaw tight? Are your brows drawn together? Do your temples ache? Are your shoulders creeping toward your ears without you noticing? Often, the face reveals what we're carrying before the mind catches up, and this is part of what drew me to Kobido, the traditional Japanese art of facial massage. It was never just about a temporary glow. It's about creating a pause where we reconnect with the body and notice the tension we've quietly been holding. Stress doesn't stay in the mind The body is constantly responding to its environment. Under stress, the nervous system primes us to react, muscles tighten, breathing shifts, and tension settles into places we stop registering over time. For many people, that place is the face. We clench the jaw while focused on a screen. Tighten the forehead while worrying. Press the lips together in frustration. Raise the shoulders under pressure. Eventually, these patterns become so automatic that we stop noticing them, until someone touches the jaw, neck, or shoulders, and it becomes clear just how much tension has been building. The jaw often tells the story The jaw carries a disproportionate share of this tension. Many people clench their teeth without realizing it during periods of stress or deep concentration. Others hold tightness in the temples, cheeks, or neck. Modern work habits compound this: hours at a screen, constant task switching, deadline pressure. Over time, these build patterns of muscular tension and distance us from our own bodies. Not all facial tension traces back to stress. There are many contributing factors. But learning to notice how we hold the face can be a meaningful first step toward shifting daily habits. Where does beauty fit in? The beauty industry has largely trained us to view the face through correction: smooth the lines, lift the contours, brighten the skin, change the features. But what if beauty could also mean rest? What if looking refreshed wasn't only about altering appearance, but about permitting ourselves to slow down? Instead of asking, "What should I change?" we might ask, "What does my face need today?" Beauty as ritual: The Japanese approach Kobido draws on Japanese facial massage traditions, combining rhythmic movement, pressure, kneading, and percussion into a single practice. A session is deeply relaxing, but it is equally about connection, with the face, the neck, the shoulders, the whole self. It creates a space where the client doesn't have to perform. No emails, no multitasking, no problems to solve, simply receiving. In a culture built on constant stimulation, that alone can feel like genuine luxury. The power of slowing down Modern culture rewards more, more meetings, more output, more goals. Even self-care risks becoming another item on the to-do list. But the body sometimes needs the opposite: permission to slow down. Facial massage can serve as that ritual. The rhythm of touch draws attention back to breath, to facial muscles, to sensations we typically override. It doesn't need to be elaborate. Even a few minutes of mindful facial massage can serve as a reminder to pause, not to fix anything, but because presence in our own bodies is worth returning to. Your face is not your enemy We are surrounded by images of "perfected" faces, filtered, edited, cosmetically altered, shaped by narrow standards. It's easy to start treating natural aging as something to fight. A different lens is worth considering: aging is not failure. Expression is not failure. A wrinkle earned through years of smiling does not need to be erased. Caring for our appearance and accepting who we are aren't opposing forces. We can pursue healthy, glowing skin while still respecting the face we already have, and choose gentle, non-invasive care because it feels good, not out of fear of aging. From client to Kobido therapist My relationship with Kobido began on the other side of the treatment table, as a client. For years, I turned to it as a natural way to care for my skin while creating space to relax. It became more than a facial massage, it was a way back to myself. That experience eventually led me to train as a certified Kobido therapist and found Sakura Glow Studio. My aim isn't to tell women they need to look younger. It's to offer a different way of experiencing beauty, one built on touch, relaxation, and caring for the face without losing sight of the person behind it. A different definition of facial care Perhaps the future of beauty isn't about choosing between looking good and feeling good, perhaps both can coexist. Skincare tends to the skin. Facial massage brings movement and awareness. A quiet moment creates space to slow down. Small daily rituals remind us to check in with how we're actually feeling. Next time you catch your reflection, resist the instinct to ask, "What should I change?" Instead, pause. Relax the jaw. Drop the shoulders. Soften the forehead. Take a slow breath, and ask, "What is my face telling me today?" Sometimes the most beautiful thing we can offer our face isn't another product. It's a moment of rest. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Anna Sarach Anna Sarach, Japanese Natural Facelift Specialist & Kobido Expert Anna Sarach is the founder of Sakura Glow and a Japanese Natural Facelift Specialist dedicated to helping people embrace natural aging with confidence. Specializing in the ancient art of Kobido, she combines traditional Japanese techniques with a holistic approach to skin health and well-being. Her mission is to empower clients to enhance their natural beauty without invasive procedures. Through her work, she inspires others to see aging as a journey of self-care, authenticity, and confidence.

Written by Tara Polley, Realtor & Television Host Tara Polley is a Telly Award-winning TV host, media strategist, and national speaker with 25+ years of experience in luxury real estate, branding, and storytelling. She helps professionals grow their visibility with clarity, creativity, and an upcoming TEDx Talk on purposeful leadership. There's a conversation happening in a lot of successful households right now that rarely gets said out loud. It usually starts with a parent's diagnosis, a hard fall, or simply the realization that mom or dad shouldn't be living alone anymore. At the same time, there's often a grown child still at home, or back at home, unable to afford the market their parents built a life in. If you're in your forties or fifties right now, there's a decent chance you're managing both at once: a parent who needs more from you than they used to, and a kid who isn't quite ready to need less. People have started calling this the sandwich generation, and the name is accurate in a way that doesn't get talked about enough. You're the filling. You're the one absorbing the pressure from both directions: the late-night calls about a fall risk and the conversations about whether your daughter can really afford her own place yet, often in the same week. The question underneath it all is the same: how do you keep the people you love close without losing your own life in the process? I've spent 25 years as a luxury real estate advisor with Sotheby's International Realty here in Sonoma County, and I'm watching that pressure show up in real listings and real closings. It isn't just anecdotal. Sotheby's International Realty's 2026 Luxury Outlook report found that nearly one in five U.S. luxury home purchases now involves buyers planning to house extended family, tied to the roughly $6 trillion in wealth that changed hands last year as an entire generation inherits from the one before it. Behind that statistic is exactly the exhaustion I just described. Buyers aren't chasing a trend. They're trying to stop running in two directions at once. One of my clients this year lived that question directly. Their home was destroyed in the 2017 Tubbs Fire, one of the thousands lost that October when whole neighborhoods burned to the ground overnight. What followed was years of insurance fights, permit delays, and rebuilding from a slab. When the house was finally finished, most people would have simply moved back in and tried to leave the hardest chapter of their life behind them. Instead, they sold it. They used that equity to buy raw land with enough room for their kids and grandchildren to build homes of their own, close enough to walk over for dinner. After everything the fire had taken, what they wanted most wasn't a fresh start somewhere new. It was the ability to stop choosing between the people who needed them. I have a current listing in Sebastopol built almost as if someone anticipated this exact need. Three standard bedrooms sit upstairs, but downstairs there's a spacious ensuite den with its own full bath, the kind of room that lets a parent who can no longer manage stairs stay fully independent under the same roof. Upstairs, a studio with a separate private entrance gives an adult child or caregiver their own door, their own space, their own sense of autonomy, without anyone having to drive across town to check in. All of it sits on 7.5 acres with a redwood grove, a creek, and open meadow, room enough that three generations can share a property without ever feeling like they're sharing a house, and without one generation's needs quietly crowding out another's. What separates a home that works for this kind of arrangement from one that quietly falls apart under the pressure of it usually comes down to a few details people don't think to look for until they need them. True separation matters more than square footage: a door that locks, a kitchenette, a layout where someone can host their own visitors without walking through everyone else's living room. Single-level access matters just as much, since a beautiful staircase becomes a real obstacle the moment someone's knees or balance start to go. Land matters in a way it didn't used to, not for status, but because privacy is what actually makes closeness sustainable instead of suffocating. What I keep coming back to with clients making this choice is that it was never really about square footage. It's about a generation redefining what having made it actually looks like. For years, that meant a bigger house, a nicer zip code, more distance between yourself and where you started. Increasingly, for the people I work with, it means the opposite: enough success to choose closeness on purpose, to build a life where your parents and your kids are down the path instead of stretching you thin from opposite ends of town. That's not a downsizing of ambition. If anything, it's a more honest version of it. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Tara Polley Tara Polley, Realtor & Television Host Tara Polley is a Telly Award-winning television host, media strategist, and national speaker with over 25 years of experience in storytelling, branding, and luxury real estate. As a host on The American Dream TV, an Emmy-nominated lifestyle show, she brings California Wine Country to a national audience through cinematic, narrative-driven content. Tara has a TEDx Talk upcoming and is known for her dynamic keynote appearances that blend emotional intelligence with actionable strategy. As a proven thought leader, she helps professionals amplify their message, lead with integrity and authenticity, and build meaningful visibility across media platforms.