Sign up to get updates from us
I am not sure the term “unstoppable” is good enough for our guest Denise Meridith. Denise was born in Brooklyn NY and, in part, attributes her “get things done” attitude to her upbringing in New York. As a child she wanted to be a veterinarian, but such was not to be. Denise explains that colleges back then didn’t consider women capable of assuming veterinarian positions. So, Denise got a BS degree in Wildlife Biology. She then joined the U.S. Bureau of Land Management where, for 29 years, assumed a number of position including serving as the deputy director. We get to hear stories of her time with the bureau and how she moved around, something that was fairly common for government employees for awhile. After serving with the bureau for more than 20 years Denise was offered “early retirement” due to the long time she served there. After retiring she became the CEO of Denise Meridith Consultants Inc (DMCI), a public and community relations firm. In 2019 she also became the CEO of The World's Best Connectors LLC, a virtual community for C-suite executives that helps other executives enhance their connections with family, employees, clients, government & the media. If running two companies weren’t enough Denise also has formed a 501C3 nonprofit organization, Read to Kids US Inc to promote literacy and family bonding. See what I mean about being unstoppable? Denise is quite engaging and I am sure you will discover that the time listening to our conversation goes by quickly and you may even wish to give this episode a second listen. About the Guest: Denise Meridith is a highly accomplished senior executive, entrepreneur and thought leader, with more than 40 years of success in government, technology, sports, and entertainment. When sexism denied her access to her childhood dream of becoming a veterinarian, she earned a BS in Wildlife Biology from Cornell University and became the first professional woman hired by the Federal Bureau of Land Management. During her 29 years with the Bureau, Meridith served in multiple states and, while Deputy Director in Washington, DC, she oversaw 200 offices, 10,000 employees and a $1.1 billion budget. After early retirement from the Federal government and for the past 20 years, she has been CEO of Denise Meridith Consultants Inc (DMCI), a public and community relations firm. Since 2019, Meridith has also been CEO of The World's Best Connectors LLC, a virtual community for C-suite executives that helps other executives enhance their connections with family, employees, clients, government & the media. Recently she created a 501(c)3 non-profit Read to Kids US Inc to promote literacy and family bonding. During the past 25 years in Arizona, Denise founded the Phoenix Black Chamber of Commerce, Linking Sports & Communities (a youth sports non-profit for 14 years), and was a Governor-appointed member of the original Arizona Sports & Tourism Board. She helped win approval for State Farm Stadium for the Arizona Cardinals. In academia, she taught sports marketing for undergraduates at Arizona State University and business operations for executives at eCornell. As a freelance reporter, she has even written 1000 articles about small businesses. Denise Meridith has won many awards for business and community development in Arizona. ** ** Ways to connect with Denise: FREE OFFERS: JOIN DENISE MERIDITH’S MAILING LIST http://tinyurl.com/3ttt5rsu Make your first New Year’s Resolution Now: Schedule a 15-min call to see if Denise Meridith’s Gen X & Baby Boomer Executives Regaining Your Mojo counseling or masterminds starting in January are right for you https://calendly.com/dmci2021/mastering-the-metaverse LEARN MORE ABOUT Denise Meridith: By reading her self-biographies published on Amazon: o Thoughts While Chillin’ https://www.amazon.com/dp/1791662323 o The Day a Roof Rat Ate My Dishwasher https://www.amazon.com/dp/1729211127 Social Media: Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/denise.meridith.7 LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/denisemeridtih Twitter: @MeridithDP2023 About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children’s Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association’s 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes:
Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Well, a pleasant hello to you wherever you happen to be. I am your host, Michael Hingson. And you are listening to unstoppable mindset. We're really glad you're with us. And today we get to talk to Denise Meridith, who has a really interesting story, a few factoids, and then we will just go from there. She as a child wanted to be a veterinarian, but had some sexist issues. And they wouldn't let her do it. I want to know about that. I think the world has changed in that regard. Some but nevertheless, when she was wanting to do it, it was different. She is the first female professional hired by the Bureau of Land Management. And that's fascinating. And she's got a lot of other things to talk about. So I don't think we're going to have any problem filling up an hour Denise. So I want to welcome you to unstoppable mindset. And thanks for being here. Denise Meridith ** 02:13 Well, thank you, Michael. I appreciate being invited. Looking forward to it. Well, Michael Hingson ** 02:18 why don't we start then, with you talking a little bit about the the early Denise the child and all that, you know, what, where you grew up and some of that kind of stuff. And what made you interested in being a veterinarian and you know, we can take it from there? Sure. Denise Meridith ** 02:34 Well, I am born in Brooklyn, like so many people in New York City, a lot of people born in Brooklyn, and then they migrate different boroughs. Michael Hingson ** 02:43 Where are the best bagels in Brooklyn? Well, I Denise Meridith ** 02:47 didn't stay there long enough to find okay. Yeah. Michael Hingson ** 02:53 Well, okay, we're the best bagels and Queens. Denise Meridith ** 02:55 We had so many people grew up in New York City. Every block will have a good bagel. So yeah, Michael Hingson ** 03:03 I know. That's why I asked the question, trying to be cute. It's just like I lived in Chicago for five years. I was born in Chicago moved out when I was five. And so I don't know when things like Garrett Popcorn started. But I know that whenever I go through Chicago, I do need to go to get popcorn in O'Hare. Or if I'm in the city that I'll go to one of the places downtown. We do. We do tend to do some of the things in the world buy our food. What can I say? Denise Meridith ** 03:29 Yes. All right. If that's hotdogs, yeah, that would be asking you where to get their best hotdog in Chicago. Sure. Michael Hingson ** 03:34 When they're in Chicago pizza, which is different than New York pizza, but that's okay, too. Yeah, they're both great. Ah, what a world anyway. Denise Meridith ** 03:44 Yeah, so I sort of grew up in knots, whatever I did grew up in Queens, and I had what I call a Norman Rockwell childhood. If you seen his paintings and pictures, that's pretty much my childhood, but some Boxster ovaries, three houses, that type of thing. My dad had grown up on a ranch in Texas. So that's why he moved to Queens. You want more land around his house there. And so we had a big lot in our house became the center of attention in the neighborhood. We had the barbecues parties. We had a finished basement with a pool table and ping pong table and all that stuff. So we were at the center of things. My dad was a renaissance man, he believe it I didn't ride horses when he grew up. He thought horses would work. He couldn't understand why people rode horses for fun once he became an adult, so instead, he hears the musician. Big bands, he played in big bands, Michael Hingson ** 04:41 what did he play Denise Meridith ** 04:43 any horn and also the drums and also the guitar. Anything he can get his hands on? He was an Army and Army veteran. So I played an Army band as well. He was Avature tennis player, a poet, professional photographer, you name it. You did it. And then my mom was a community organizer. So church, PTA, anything that needed somebody in charge she was it. So when you merge those two together, you get me. So I liked a lot of pay for things. My mom, she belonged to the animal association or now Humane Society. So I had all kinds of pets growing up. So it's logical that I would want to be a vet. Because there's not too many professions in New York. It could be go to Broadway and I did take dancing lessons most of my life. But you could go to Broadway, you could be a doctor, you gotta be a lawyer or bid. That was pretty much it. So I picked the vet, because Cornell was in New York one. Yeah. Got vet schools and world. Yes. When I got up there, I found out that they weren't too keen on women being vets, they were just letting like one woman a year and into vet school. And pretty much to be that woman. I knew it was gonna be me, because there'll be somebody who pretty much grew up on a farm or something, or whose parent wasn't? Preferably who went to Cornell. Michael Hingson ** 06:08 What was what was their logic? I mean, of course, I'm looking at it from today's standpoint, and today's point of view, but what was there was Denise Meridith ** 06:19 physical physical, that went on weren't capable being that's the women, the few that I let them know, you had to be a small animal that they work with horses or anything like that. So which I thought was pretty ironic. Could you pick up all the women, cow girls and stuff? Yeah. Why? Why they would think women in fact, why went to Cornell, I had a lot of offers when I went to Cornell, was because I had the best equine contract program in the country. And I do like horses. So anyway, I got to do a lot of horse stuff there without being a vet, my roommate, actually was from a town, she just wanted to live in a dorm. So no breaks, all the kids go, you know, I guess what I do now biking, or vaping, or something. We would go horseback riding during breaks. So during lunch, or any kind of break, after school, we would go horseback riding. So it was pretty ideal setting for me growing up. And going to that point, the ideal part of it, of course, was what a lot of people don't know about the North. isn't that different from the south in a lot of ways and that I integrated junior high school, all white, you're in high school, I integrate it in a whole white high school. Cornell there were, like 75 African Americans in my entering class of 3000. So I had a lot of experience, being in the first study only our breaking glass ceilings. So that was my growing up. And my bed story how I got not to be a bit of what happened with that was, which was fortuitous, or actually more beneficial was that I wound up majoring in wildlife biology. Have any women but they didn't say they didn't want any women. So it was a lot different atmosphere there. So three women, three women graduated with degrees in wildlife biology. Michael Hingson ** 08:23 What did you do with it? Then when you got that degree? My Denise Meridith ** 08:27 first job was as a wildlife biologist, believe it or not? The Bureau of Land Management. So that was I got to be the first woman in that agency. Michael Hingson ** 08:37 Were there a lot of challenges in getting that job? Or were you pretty well accepted? Right from the outset? Or what? Denise Meridith ** 08:44 There was always going to be challenges. Yeah. Dave, and but essentially, and that was I interviewed earlier today. And it reminded me when you're a senior in college, now, you don't just go online, put in entries, but you would have to write write letters. So people remember that you had to write letters to them and agency companies asking to be considered. And I as a wildlife biologist, there are not a lot of options are state government. Maybe that's not likely because people die in place and the state government openings there. Michael Hingson ** 09:21 So what was what year was it that you graduated? Denise Meridith ** 09:25 I was graduated 73. Michael Hingson ** 09:27 Okay. All right. All right. Yeah. Because I'm thinking of of things like it was much later than that was like 23 years later. Well, it was actually more than that. It was like 26 years. It was like 1999 my fourth guy Doug Linney became ill with glomerular nephritis and the, the emergency vet or actually the specialists that we took her to was a woman in in a veterinarian facility that was mostly women. So, clearly there was a lot of change. But anyway, that Denise Meridith ** 10:03 Yeah, well, it's I would say it's all women. Now you've made pretty Michael Hingson ** 10:07 hard, but very much a lot. It is. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's Denise Meridith ** 10:11 timing is everything. Yeah, that's hardly very few men anymore. I don't sure exactly why. But there are very few men anymore in that field. So I wrote my letters to places that would harm wildlife people. So Fish and Wildlife Service in a Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. The Park Service and Forest Service both told me they didn't hire women. That was pretty plain. And what's interesting now and I talked to younger people, sort of horrified. People could say that then it wasn't. It wasn't uncommon. It wasn't thought to be different, or rude or discriminatory or anything. They. And so now, you know, I wish I kept the letters. You didn't keep going wasn't anything different. Before, right, and forest service offered me a job as a secretary, they liked my degree from Cornell. They thought I'd make a pretty good secretary. So the Bureau of Land Management is the only one that said, okay, and probably I said, it's a perfect storm. Why I got that particular job. That job had been vacant for two years. They couldn't find anybody Michael Hingson ** 11:21 to take it. So they figured what the heck, we'll give her a try. Denise Meridith ** 11:24 Yeah, all right. Gotta have somebody in here sooner or later. So I took that job and which was in Las Vegas, of all things of all places. And it was turned out great with an office, small office 25 people or so in office, the average age was 27. Because nobody wanted to live in Vegas at that time. We had a if you can imagine. People that age in Vegas, we had a great time. We had a great time to that office. And it's a lot of fun. I was one of six wildlife biologists in the state. Because now people have seen all the movies and the shows and everything. But at that time, while kingdom was it, the only show it mentioned, you know, that wildlife Marlon Perkins. Yep. So he was an inspiration to me and everybody who went into the field and at that time, but there weren't many of us. So I had 10 million acres to play with by myself. Michael Hingson ** 12:26 With a lot of fun and what was it you were to do with those 10 million acres? Denise Meridith ** 12:30 Wildlife Biology it pretty much studying patterns and populations, identifying ingredient species, we need to do the preserve them. What the big change for me was I went to school in upstate New York. And my first job was in the desert of Nevada. Yes. Completely different wildlife. So I got to learn a lot about a lot of different wildlife. In fact, the main wildlife there was desert tortoises, and my favorite, yeah, they're nice. And pup fish and the old era. That's about it. Michael Hingson ** 13:09 That's about it. Well, I had desert tortoises as pets growing up. And then we lived in Mission Viejo and California in 1982 through 1989. And my in laws lived, but 2025 miles away in San Clemente. And one day they were outside and a tortoise came walking up their driveway. And they advertise because they wanted to find it. They figured it was so Taurus that belonged to someone and nobody ever claimed it. And I said I would love it. So we named him et turtle because his face was like ET. And he lived with us for for a number of years. And then the gardener left the gate open and he got out but it was fun. He loved cantaloupe. He loved rose petals. Denise Meridith ** 14:02 Yeah, yeah, they're interested in pets. I had one one time that also got out. And it's something you don't think about, you know, think about you know, you think of dogs running away. You don't think your Taurus is gonna run away but Michael Hingson ** 14:17 curious. Yeah. Well, it happens Mukunda What do you do, but by the same token, it was fun when he was around with us. And he figured out that we had a screen door in the backyard that went into the house and wouldn't latch but he figured out he could use his front feet and open the door and come in. That's great. And what he liked to do is go live right in front of the refrigerator because the refrigerator was nice and warm and and that caused great consternation with our cat who couldn't figure out what he was so Denise Meridith ** 14:55 that's good. Well, they're smarter than we think. They are. Yeah, Well, people are asking me today Well, earlier as if you will have a master's degree in public administration, and I said, Yeah, I have a people degree and an animal degree. Yeah. And believe me, the people agree as a lot harder. Oh, yeah. Animals wildlife would do fine on its own. Okay. The reason why we have wildlife biologists is to actually figure out what to do with about the people, much Michael Hingson ** 15:28 more than the animals. You're right. Exactly. So you became a wildlife biologist? And how long did she do that? Denise Meridith ** 15:36 I did that for a couple of years there in Vegas. And then what I figured out was that while being from New York, you know, I'm very decisive, or aggressive or assertive, is that biologists don't make decisions. They make recommendations, I figured that out. It was like, I could do a lot more for wildlife being in more decision making capacity. So I switched from wildlife biology to environmental science, because the environmental scientists are the ones that wrote the environmental assessments, and the rules and regs and all of that type of thing. And so I was able to do a lot more for wildlife, from that position than I did from being a bog biologist. Michael Hingson ** 16:25 Was that also in Las Vegas? Yeah, Denise Meridith ** 16:27 so I did that for two years. And then after that I was on the road I moved at that time, which is different now. Because I assumed government can't afford it. They wanted you to move every three or four years, just like the military. So you did. So that was four years time ago. Again, because still a bit. Some people think the good old days or the bad old days, depending on what side you're on. couldn't really get another job as a first woman. And most of the western areas, they're back east where I was hired in and our job was in Silver Spring, Maryland. So I hopped back after that, I hopped back and forth across the country. Guess where the best opportunities? Michael Hingson ** 17:18 Were you've been in a number of positions where you're kind of the first or first woman to do it. What were what were some of the others? Yeah, Denise Meridith ** 17:28 every job in the bureau after that pretty much was the first. No, I was the first the somebody but I was deputy for resources and New Mexico, Santa Fe, New Mexico. I was associate state director lesson number two person in California. That was great. I was the head person and eastern region, which covered 31 states, West that bordered on that nice for the Mississippi. And then I was the first in only woman. Personnel call a deputy director in the United States, for the Bureau of Land Management. And Washington, DC during the Clinton Administration. That's pretty much in charge. It's a political visit the directors political position. So the deputy is sort of the one that sort of runs things as us almost a CEO type of Ryan. Oh, and that I had 10,000 employees and billion dollar budget and 200 offices. So that was very exciting. Michael Hingson ** 18:34 A little bit more expensive to live in DC than in Vegas. And but but I don't know, today, Vegas is getting pretty expensive. Denise Meridith ** 18:41 Yeah, I guess it's funny because Vegas even then was relatively expensive to other parts of the Southwest. Luckily, I moved to DC, you know, so long ago, and then I kept my house and move away and don't move back. I was in DC a couple of times, luckily kept my house. So it was that the thing with the government. The other reason that government doesn't move you all over the place now is that they will buy your house. And I'm sure they can't afford to do that type of thing anymore. Yeah. If you? Yeah, if you didn't want to sell it, or you couldn't sell it, the government would buy it Michael Hingson ** 19:16 and move you. Do you still have your house in DC now. Now? Yeah, Denise Meridith ** 19:20 I kept it I'd be very well off. But oh, yeah, I left it. So I moved to LA. Well, it's interesting selling my house in DC I could afford two houses. In Phoenix. I didn't buy two houses. Probably should have done that too. But I how low the price of the housing was here. Yeah. And now since pass COVID Since everybody knows that figured out. It's a wonderful place to live. I think it had the highest rise in prices in the country. Well, Phoenix. This past year Michael Hingson ** 19:54 gets pretty hot in the summer. Now I live in Victorville. So we're on the high desert weekend. had over 100 in the summer, but you get a lot more hot for longer periods of time than we do. We'll be in the high 90s Low hundreds or so. But Phoenix tends to get hotter. Denise Meridith ** 20:12 Yeah. Why about saves that has no humidity whatsoever. Michael Hingson ** 20:15 Right? Most cases where I am pretty much the same thing. Yeah. Denise Meridith ** 20:20 So here are the ideal temperature is probably 100 100. And Summertime is fine. Yeah. Michael Hingson ** 20:27 That's when it gets to 110 115. It's a little bit a little bit different. Denise Meridith ** 20:32 And we haven't been having much of that. So I guess climate change. We haven't been having as much of that. lately. Michael Hingson ** 20:38 You did this summer, though, right? This past summer. Denise Meridith ** 20:41 This summer. Yeah. But it was like one stretch. Yeah. Michael Hingson ** 20:47 It did make national news. You're right. But still, Denise Meridith ** 20:49 it was just like, a week or two. And I will trade that for 11 months and perfect. Navi Michael Hingson ** 20:56 I hear you. Denise Meridith ** 20:59 So but yeah, Victorville that was in my my area, you know, and I was I had a California here. So high desert was pretty interesting. It's like two different countries. In Northern California and Southern California. Michael Hingson ** 21:15 Well, in Southern California, the high desert is different than the Inland Empire somewhat and both different than right on the coast. So So what do you do? It's, it's, it's the way it is, but it was 26 this morning when I woke up. Yeah. Oh, not too bad. And it was high was 59. I was pretty impressed with it. It went up by 33 degrees. So that's pretty cool. Oh, Denise Meridith ** 21:43 neat sense of the word. Yeah. And we were having a fit here. Because it was a high was like 59 or 68. We're ready to jump out windows here. It was. I don't know. And nothing is here. We complain about it being cold. But we don't have jackets. You know what I mean? We don't have Cokes? We don't have anything that would make it not fairly that bad, right. Michael Hingson ** 22:12 For a while I lived in the Bay Area. And there were times up in Novato where we could get over 100. But typically, it wasn't too bad. So we didn't have an air conditioner in the summer. Denise Meridith ** 22:22 Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah, I lived in Sacramento. The class difference. Yeah. Yeah, that was hot. But I would tell people, you know, they come visit. And of course, you have to take them to San Francisco. They're coming to visit you. They're really not coming to visit you. So I need to always forewarn them. Okay, San Francisco, it's got to be cool. The same? And still, everybody's surprised and they get the air for Cisco. And freeze. Michael Hingson ** 22:48 Yeah. Yeah. Well, yeah. Like Mark Twain said, he said this. I spent a what a winter there one week in the summer or something like that. But yeah, well, so how long did you stay with the Bureau of Land Management in Denise Meridith ** 23:02 29 years, I was with them. Oh, my gosh, yeah. And I left. After I left the DC current administration, when I was had the 200 offices. And even a 200 officers didn't bother me as much as the issue is in DC. I'm a very, like I said, sort of decisive kind of person, I like results. And DC is not designed for that. You know, it's not nobody's fault. It's just not designed to make decisions. So I wanted to go back where you could actually do things, have projects that are finished, etc. So after a couple of years, I moved to Arizona, where I am now. So I've been here for 28 years. And it was great when I moved back here as the state director, and I wound up designating for national monuments. So helping get the Arizona Trail doesn't made it I upgraded all the RV parks, a lot of campgrounds, etc, etc, etc. So I was able to do things. And I love that. Michael Hingson ** 24:14 And then what did you do? And Denise Meridith ** 24:16 so when I left Oh, they had an early out, which they don't do that anymore, you but they used to say, Okay, have they like every so many years they would say okay, you can leave if you have based on yours, not your age. So guess what, since I started two weeks out of college, I had a lot of years and no age, so I got to retire super super early in life. And what I did is Denise married a consultant Incorporated, which is a public and community relations firm. It's actually wound up doing a lot of the same things, tourism recreation. Thanks for the outdoors I helped. Also well thanks like I Have the get the stadium built the NFL stadium built here. Several other spring training stadiums designated not just a lot of parks and star help get them designated a lot of things like that. So I did, yeah, pretty similar types of work. Except I'm from the private industry president. Michael Hingson ** 25:22 So what made you leave BLM and start your own company? Just because of the out the years? Yeah, Denise Meridith ** 25:30 yeah. Hard to pass that up. Or retire at that age. So yeah, got that. And and you know, it's can make up what I used to preach to people, they didn't believe me, because people go, Oh, government, so boring, and bla bla bla bla bla bla, well, it ceases to be boring when you have a pension and health care. Right. So well, Michael Hingson ** 25:55 I can make it as fun as you want at all. It's all about mental attitude to Denise Meridith ** 26:00 Yeah. And I was less than working for the Bureau of Land Management, because what you had, it's all scientists. Right? So this geologists, it's science, people doing science, happiest people in the world, you know, so I really enjoyed. I enjoyed them, they were enjoying their work, I enjoyed them. It was just, to me a wonderful opportunity to work with people for that long, who enjoy their work. And it's not too many people who can say that anymore. But it was unusual that why in government with our agency. Michael Hingson ** 26:38 So you what, what made you start the company, you just wanted to continue doing the same sorts of things. And that was the easiest way to do it. Or, yeah, Denise Meridith ** 26:47 I probably should have stayed retired now. Now, I've enjoyed what I've done. But essentially, two weeks after retirement, the story was, well, two weeks after retirement. And I'm thinking boy, gee, I can do anything. How does this you know, it's sort of a shock when you're working all the time. And like, when I was in DC, I was on the road 75% of the time, so And Arizona, I travel a lot. Oh, I could do anything. So a friend of mine called and said, Well, why don't we go to the movies, and it was like the middle of the day. And I thought, oh my god, this is good. Go to the movies. So we went to see a movie very bad. Well, I know I shouldn't but and I came back and water was coming out my front door. I've sunburst blah, blah, blah. I spent the next five weeks in a hotel. And so the only thing I can think is that I was lost my mind. Because it had happy hour every night. When I invited somebody else to join, join me and happy hour, and they go, Oh, nice. What is great opening job opened up and I think I had too much wine. This great opening open up but heading up this nonprofit. You should take a look at that. And so I did. Some I retirement didn't last very long. So I ended up that nonprofit. And I've been doing something ever since. Michael Hingson ** 28:15 Just what was that nonprofit? Denise Meridith ** 28:19 It was the Arizona Trail Association. You know, they were one of the longest trails in the United States. And it goes from border to border from the northern border, Arizona, New Mexico. And spectacular trail. Because Arizona is beautiful. So it's a very beautiful trail. But they were having problems getting it designated. Because yes, politics and I understand politics. I help them. Actually it was me and John McCain got together and helped get that trail designated. But I'm sort of a restless person. Sorry, I was only there for a year with them. I had my own Disney spirit consultants started anyway. So then I just did a variety of things. I like projects start finished start finish. Until about, you know pretty much on my own. until five years ago, I decided, well, why don't you get a whole group of people who like to do that. And that's when world's best connectors was started. So the current organization that I manage, and what it just made up of a bunch of folks like myself, they all have their own businesses. But we get together and people throw out ideas and we jump on them or not. We're consulting firm. If n were CEO, the CEO, we're not B to B or C it'd be all those things. We're CEO, the CEO, that what we do is help other executives what problems they come in, they need a tech person, they need a HR person, they need whatever come to us. We either have a person like that, or we can get them a person like that. So that's what we've done in the past five years Michael Hingson ** 30:03 is disease murders consultants still functioning? So you have two companies? Yeah. Denise Meridith ** 30:10 Well, I actually three, but we want if it gets too complicated, but no, I have a nonprofit to read to kids, us. I'm trying to get parents to read to the kids again, like they did in the old days. But the days for consultants where that comes in is, and really the reason that I met you really, at do a lot of conferencing and whatever. But I do coaching, professional coaching, or people, and particularly for Baby Boomers and Gen X, what I do is help them rediscover their mojo. That's what I call it. And so I think both of those groups pretty much had it made in the beginning of 2020. Yeah, they had figured it out. They were doing well, economy's doing well, it's all kinds of opportunities going. Everything looks fantastic. I as an example, was that in Miami for Super Bowl week with my group, a group from world's best connectors, and we were networking and going to a lot of special events, thinking of future partnerships, future contracts. And two weeks later, I come back COVID Close everything down. So and that happened to a lot of what happened, everybody but baby, I think Baby Boomers and Gen X is crooked, because it was more of a disappointment. He thought you had it figured out you could actually had everything made. And then when President says COVID stuff and pandemics over those people ran back to work. And guess what? Nobody only wants to came back. Nobody else was in the office. Yeah. Nobody else wanted to be in the office Michael Hingson ** 31:57 and a bunch of them got COVID. Denise Meridith ** 31:58 Yeah, so it was just, to me devastating for a lot of people in my age group. So what I do is, work with them. You can't go backwards, it's not going to change. It's not going to go back to what it was. What can we do to find your happiness? Again? A place in a position and a life that can make you happy again? Yeah, a lot of people don't notice that. Really? COVID gave them a second chance. Yes. Okay, you're gonna have another opportunity. Maybe they didn't even like that job. You know that they're complaining about low job anyway. So what can we do? They get you something that you do like or no job at all. That's delicate, and people have a hard time transitioning sometimes to retirement. And so I help people over those humps. That's what I tried to help you. So Michael Hingson ** 32:55 you do a lot of coaching and helping people and so when I should explain to the folks listening out there that Denise and I met through PATA Palooza that people know what PATA Palooza is, we've talked about it a number of times on on unstoppable mindset. And for those who don't know PATA Palooza is a program that meets four times a year and the people who come are either podcasters interested in being podcasters, or want to be interviewed by podcasters. Pretty much. Those are the people that usually come. And Denise and I met there. And here we are. Denise Meridith ** 33:29 Yeah, we had a, you know, I think a lot in common as far as the way we look at the world, and achieving things and being happy. So I yeah, I was very impressed with what you do what you've overcome. I do a lot of speeches. Well, now it's coming up on Black History Month. So for that Women's History Month back, but I get request, obviously. Because people want to know how, yeah, obviously, all these all these things could have been obstacles, not being a vet, that not, you know, getting certain jobs, they not getting promotions, all of that. You can look at that as an obstacle that it is, or you can figure out a way to overcome that. But Michael Hingson ** 34:20 you But you made a choice, somewhere in your psyche, that you weren't going to let those kinds of things stop you and that you were going to continue to Denise Meridith ** 34:28 move on. Exactly. And that's that's the only way to do it. Thanks for not gonna be equal, you know, and that's one thing that's sort of hard to take those true. Baby bonus. Well, what we see is what we see, what we see is what we get. So I if you think about I was a kid when Civil Rights Act was passed, and everybody thought everything was going to change. And it hasn't been something strange, but women can be better Now, you know, overall, they're still allowed to obstacle. So I worked with people, well, I not work with people, I hope to be a role model for people, and how not to give up. And, and I say, essentially, wonder closes, God opens another one to take it. Michael Hingson ** 35:20 What's hot? What's ironic is so the same thing in a sense with the Americans with Disabilities Act, everybody thought everything was going to change, and it hasn't. Unemployment rates have dropped a little bit. But they're still incredibly high. Internet websites aren't accessible, for the most part. And we're not included in a lot of the conversations when you talk about diversity that doesn't generally include disabilities. So some of us like, like I and I've talked about it on the podcast here talk about inclusion, you either are inclusive, or you're not, there's no middle ground, you either are gonna be or you're not. But at the same time, the thing that we have, and continue to face is not included in a lot of the conversations. So I don't hear anybody talking about a disability history Awareness Month or anything like that, although there is a month dealing with disabilities, but it is not nearly as well discussed and mentioned and talked about, or included as other minorities, even though we're a larger minority than all of them. Denise Meridith ** 36:24 Wow. And everybody has the potential to be in that group. And Michael Hingson ** 36:29 everybody has the potential to be in that group. Every well. Well, of course, actually, in, in a technical sense, everybody is a member of that group, I believe that we've misinterpreted the definition of disability, and that disability is a characteristic that everyone has, it manifests in different ways like you can see, and your disability, at least one of your disabilities, is your light dependent, you know, the power goes out, what are you going to do, you gotta go off and try to find a light source. Thomas Edison fixed it mostly, but not totally. And so it still creeps in. So the bottom line is, everybody has a disability. You know, it's something that we, we we really should think more about, but there's a lot of fear. And people know that they can become a person with a physical disability or whatever. And so the fear keeps us from being really included, like we ought to be. Denise Meridith ** 37:21 And I've always had empathy along those lines, whatever reason why parents whatever reason was, but I, when I became the director, the deputy director of the Bureau, Ada, just pretty much passed. Right. And so I hired a person to, you know, interpret that legislation for us and help people with that legislation. Or did that set off a firestorm? How couldn't you be wasting a position on that? Nobody cares about that, and nobody needs to know that. Anyway, so but I do what I do. Right. So So I went ahead. And in this case, she was a hearing impaired, but as soon as she got there, things changed people. Oh, I have a question. Oh, I don't understand this, oh, how can I do this better? And Michael Hingson ** 38:19 of course, today, and of course, today, most people rightfully so would not be caught dead saying hearing impaired because people who are deaf or hard of hearing recognize impaired is, is a negative thing. And we're not even cared, you know, the, and that hasn't really translated into blindness, because so many people continue to say visually impaired, and it shouldn't be blind or low vision. Because why are we Why do you equate how much sight you have with whether you're impaired or not? And that's the issue that we're Why do you equate, whether you how much you hear is to whether you're impaired or not. That's the whole thing we have to change and it's just so hard to do, because it's so ingrained in society. Denise Meridith ** 39:01 Yeah, that'll be GQ. T I A plus. As an example, you know, the it's just the getting across what we need to get credit. It's getting harder, not easier to talk to people about anything. All right. Unfortunately, it's getting harder. So but she went on to be pretty popular pretty, pretty much in demand. But I I'm doing right now, one of the projects that we're working on, and world's best connectors is business education for college athletes. So again, it sort of comes up. Most people when they think about the NCAA is ruling on name image and likeness, nio that kid's gonna get paid for playing. Like a football, man and men and footballs. That's the whole thing. And if you look at this statistic, that's where the money is. That's where it nio money is going, blah, blah, blah, man and football and so my group, we're looking at students overall. And our program is open to any student in any sport in any school. And I want people that want to go to the Olympics, I want Paralympic people, I want LGBTQ T people, I want any athlete. But again, that's different. People aren't saying that they're not thinking that at all. So we're going to be a little different that way. But I always have been different. But I think if anything, those other groups all need it more. Because right now 2% of NCAA athletes in college, become professional athletes. 2% Okay, 98% What are they gonna do afterwards? And, you know, college is not really prepared for them for that. It's no, but just they have different goals. Okay. And I don't begrudge them that they have different goals, different objectives. But what we're doing is teaching them how to create a business run a business. So they have something when they leave college, they leave our program with a business license. So they have something when they leave college, what they do with it after that, we up to them, but at least it gives them a chance and opportunity to be I say something besides a pitcher in a yearbook? Yeah. Michael Hingson ** 41:25 Which is something that certainly makes sense to do. Denise Meridith ** 41:30 So where it's called Project Nylo. And so I encourage people to look into it. It's pretty simple. It's www dot project. Nylo. And I l.com Pretty simple, but the O is for ownership. And what we do is want to put ownership in the NFL, on the side of the good. Oh, that's just something different. Okay, now, I was gonna say, but you know, the things why I like liked you when I met you. And why I like your program, is there's such a need for educating the public about things. And it's getting harder and harder to do that. On paper. You know, to me, that's the anti intellectual approach that's being taken to so many things. It makes it more difficult. So I appreciate what you're doing. Michael Hingson ** 42:27 You have you have in your life I'm sure had. Well, you talk a lot about mentoring, and you've been mentored a number of people who are some of the people who have been your mentors? Denise Meridith ** 42:40 Um, yeah, it's interesting. Obviously, I didn't have many women. I didn't have any women mentors in Bureau, I was it so I became the permanent woman, mentor, and the Bureau of Land Management. But I did have a lot of male mentors. And that's one thing I try to get across to people know not to make stereotypes of people judgments about people you never know. My first mentor and Bureau of Land Management was older Anglo guy, and I say older, we thought he was really old, because he was 55. He's like, 2020 to 21, and whatever. So and he was a sagebrush specialist, right? That was his site. So you wouldn't think, and it was Republican conservative, you could go down the line. And we hit it off perfectly, which you wouldn't think so you can't make judgments about people. And he really helped me in the beginning, because like I said, I dealt with wildlife in New York. And we were in Nevada, though, he taught me a lot of desert, survival skills that I needed the half, and really helped me understand the bureau and it's what it did and how it did. It sounds like that. So Jim Bruner was my first mentor there. But then I had others while I'm away at hasty was the director of California for like, 30 years. He was the bureau director in California. He was awesome. Oh, God said and he would say, I like women better they work harder. Here's a big guy, Marine veteran, you know, tough guy and buzz cut until he died, you know? And so to have someone like that, except you Yeah, you know, promote you as like Kevin a year on pet Pitbull. Right. But it was very helpful. So I've had people like that. JOHN MCCAIN, ARIZONA. So I had mainly just because of the nature of the work I was said, mainly male mentors, mainly Anglo male mentors. So I do Estelle people keep an open mind about things you can learn from everyone. And I've had great support. Michael Hingson ** 45:05 Was your mom, a mentor to you? Yeah, Denise Meridith ** 45:09 yeah, I talked about that your parents if you're lucky. I'd be the first mentor. So I described my dad and everything that he did. And my mom was community organizer, a very strong, liberated woman, so to speak. And so for both of them, I got a little bit from both of them that helped shape me. And I, and really, they're the ones said, you could do anything? Honestly, you bet. They didn't say that, you know, they were very supportive. The track the track to get to Cornell is no easy track. In New York, it starts my mother figured it out. It pretty much started when I graduated from elementary school. I was valedictorian there. And she knew you had to get into the right Junior High School to get into the right high school to get to Cornell. Okay, she was that far ahead. So I'm thinking, so that's why I integrated the junior high school. And it was all white. I think there was 20 people of color in that whole school. And then I integrated the high school that I went to as well. And yeah, that was no easy thing. But I keep your eye on the prize and what you want out of it, what you got, and then that high school was sort of a feeder type of high school for for now. Michael Hingson ** 46:40 Here's an off the wall question. Going back to mentors for a second. You mentioned John McCain. How about Cindy McCain? Denise Meridith ** 46:46 Cindy is wonderful. Yeah, people I don't know, maybe most people outside of Arizona don't realize or the southwest. It was a it was a couple. Yeah. He was very important. And his decision making. And just being an I love them both. There was such a strong couple. And she's carried on she's so she has Michael Hingson ** 47:17 you know, he was the visible one. Pretty much in the news and all that but she is clearly continue to move. Move forward in is a vibrant force in her own right, which is great. Denise Meridith ** 47:30 Yeah, and she has I'm gonna approach her about my program, too. But hey, you know, it's Yeah, yeah. And politics in general. You know, I just don't have many I care right now, are Republican and Democrat. I've been independent all my life. So it hasn't mattered, obviously. But, but the just, we need people that have conviction, you know, and make honest decisions, not based on, you know, contributions or anything like that. Michael Hingson ** 48:05 Yeah, that's really the issue is having true convictions. And we just don't see that much of it. In the world in general, like we should know. Denise Meridith ** 48:13 And, you know, who knows when we'll get there again. But it's very price people. He people never really knew what he was gonna vote, you know, how he's gonna vote, even though he was a conservative Republican. So you could guess some of it. But he did a lot of environmental work this Yeah, I know, as I was working with him on it, right. So that would shock people. They would not think that would happen. But there were Michael Hingson ** 48:37 a few decisions he made. I thought were a little bit strange, but you know, but that's okay. You You do what you can, but clearly, he was a man of convictions and, and was was one of the good ones. Yeah, Denise Meridith ** 48:53 he was also effective. And that's one thing. There you go. You know, well, I don't know if we have to leave effective politicians anymore. But he brought a lot of money to the state. He was very obviously supportive of the military. So veterans, he did a lot to help veterans. He did a lot of, to me. Very important things that involve getting money, you have to get money to do good things. And he did. had, you know, did a good job of doing that. But, you know, so a lot of politicians now you don't see them getting money for anyone but themselves in a lot of cases. Yeah. It's pretty sad. Michael Hingson ** 49:32 Yeah, we don't have the role models that we used to have them true models that you can look up to in terms of ethics and everything else. Yeah. Denise Meridith ** 49:42 Sandra Day O'Connor, another person we lost. I said another wonderful person. I met her obviously through my stuff with the Bureau of Land Management. But again, you know, people couldn't predict. Yeah, she voted accordingly, you could not predict or assume, you know that she was going to do this or do that. He evaluated every issue that came up and, and, you know, stuck to her guns with it. She was very important. She also what I liked about her is that she rarely promoted education. Right now, Arizona, I don't know, I didn't look this past year are pretty much been number 49 out of 50. States and education. And she was did a lot to try to rectify that by really pushing education. She thought that people choose, right. Don't know enough about government. Yeah, it's not taught anymore. People don't know how government works. How, what is public service? Now that is, I know, Bureau and other federal agencies have a hard time getting anyone anymore. And believe me, we need civil servants. We need public servants. So who are honest, and they're just to do a good job. We need Michael Hingson ** 51:09 to get leaders and it isn't just civil servants. They need to, to understand and other civil servants we need to grow leaders to write. Denise Meridith ** 51:21 And I just really, a lot of people been discouraged. Like, even aside, even the science, they can't do science anymore. Right. So scientists are not happy campers as there used to be. Yeah, it's gotten very politicized. Yeah, exactly. So I don't know. But I, my, what I've decided from here on I have a few years left, maybe just a few. But anyway, is to legacy, my legacy, hopefully, would be developing future leaders. So that's what I'm doing. That's why I'm doing like this education program. We're gonna create a whole new generation of business leaders, which will be nice people that in the past, or qualities have been overlooked athletes, people don't think about them, except how fast I can run or how high they can jump. Yeah. And when you think about it, that discipline there that they had to go through to be to where they are charismatic, a lot of them are charismatic leader type people. And, you know, we're missing all of that, by just, you know, throwing them out if they can't run out in the field anymore. Yeah. I'm hoping to give them some alternatives. In turn, they can take that business degree, go back home, hire people in their area, and their community back home with a business degree and have a family business. You know, it's it's multiple, as the effects multiply dramatically, I hope, what they were doing with this program, Michael Hingson ** 53:00 you mentioned earlier, read to kids tell me a little bit more about that. Denise Meridith ** 53:04 Yeah, that's, that's my fun project. But I feel one I've been writing since I was 10 years. Well, probably before, but since I wrote my first book when I was 10 years old, right, dreading it, too. I was pretty good artists. But I'm concerned that people aren't. I think reading is the crux of a lot of things. Decision making, you know, rationality, everything, but my angle on it is in the past, parents rented our kids, it was one moment, you know, bedtime stories. One moment, bedtime alone, if your child quietly do something together. Now, it's pretty much an ima ComiCon fan, so not knocking marvel in particular, but now it's, you know, syndicated on another TV, watch Marvel until this time because parents are very busy. I got a lot of different jobs. It's just, to me, that's something that's been lost. And when I read the kids, us the mascot is my dog, my miniature poodle, airy, and he has five books on Amazon. And the adventures of airy are about what he's doing as he grows up so to speak. So Michael Hingson ** 54:30 every right Harry writes his own books. Yeah, Denise Meridith ** 54:33 he does a good job. This book sell more than my Yes. So his first haircut our first target went to the doctor right those types of issues, though he helps kids overcome those fears that they might have. But to be the key is there. I'm what I might our model is to read to a kid three to six years old 15 minutes a day. So you take that 15 minutes read in 15 Min. So we have a lot of authors in our group, you can read those books, 15 minutes. And that's just 15 minutes, which doesn't seem long, but it's, you know, face to face. Total attention, working on something together, and it just doesn't happen much anymore. Know what to say. And when we go to book shows or whatever, and type of thing, and so all the people that go to these giant, you know, now they still have a few, I was glad to find out a few giant book fairs going on. And one in Tucson, I guess. 100,000 people go to that one. It's pretty incredible. But everybody that will come up to our booth say, oh, yeah, my mom used to read to me. It's passed along. Yeah, passed along. And these people that are coming up to you are very educated, erudite people, right. So that's what I hope to do. And luckily, I had a RT O'Hagan and I'll give a shout out to him. He, during pandemic, he bought Aires books, and distributed them to nurses and hospitals. So that they could go home and read to their kids. And so you get nice letters. Oh, it's first time. My kid read out loud. Or it's the first time that ghost I hope that nice books that people would get some lessons from them dedicate my talk about? Oh, you didn't know that your kid was afraid of such and such? Yeah. You didn't know the kid was being bullied at school? Or you didn't know these things? It? Yeah. So it could open up a lot of discussions. So it's the region kids got us is that site. And it's just a little thing I do on the side. But I'm hoping it has some impact on parents, grandparents in particular, I thought grandparents were really sort of left out during COVID. You know, they couldn't even see anybody and got separated from their grandkids. My books are various books, obviously, you can get them on Kindle. You can get them on online. And so it's something that you can do now what technology you can do over what we're doing zoom, right. You can read to hear grant kid on the other side of the country through zoom. So that's what I'm hoping. Right now. I appreciate your asking about it. So the little thing I do on the side but reallocates us that's as my heart. It's something that I really like to see happen. Michael Hingson ** 57:36 So how does the program work? What do you do? Denise Meridith ** 57:39 What we do is just write books there online. And what we had breach over it, or we'll have starting again this year, is go to schools, you know, go to school, go to libraries. You know, Eric goes, I take Gary. And he goes, and we have, you know, the books there. And parents. Yeah, by the books we read. We have readings for our office from our, you know, our group COMM And I read some of the kids there, and whatever. So it's just getting kids excited about reading again. And parents like it too. Michael Hingson ** 58:16 Alright, so I get to that is that is really cool. What books have you written? Denise Meridith ** 58:20 I just have to have my own. But anyway, so he has five, but I have Michael Hingson ** 58:26 He's got four paws though. So he's got a porter, right? 58:30 That's true thoughts, while chillin and a C h i l l i n what no G is really covers my career from being born in Brooklyn, I guess, up into my career through the Bureau of Land Management. So it's funny when you write something like that, and you call it an autobiography, because when you're young, you don't think you're gonna live that long. And then it was like, Gee, wow, I guess I had some more living to do I should write something else. So the other book is the sequel to that and it's called the year roof rat ate my dishwasher. Which people go I'd say what Okay. Roof rats are I don't know that their I guess their data. Arizona. I don't know. Anyway, we have roof rats here. A lot of people have different kinds of pests than their areas but we have roof rats, and they eat there. They have big teeth. And not like normal rats. They have big teeth. They climb trees and they eat through pipes. They eat through all kinds of things. So literally, the story opens so that book the first story is about the My dishwasher stopped working. And I had the guy come to repair it and he opened stuff up but he like jumps back and scrapes I go whoa. And he goes look at a pipe. So the rat should eaten through the PCV pipe. And that's why my dishwasher what's not working. And so what I wanted to do with this book is it's very much about Arizona. So it's an Arizona Survival Guide is what I call it. Arizona is a very particular place with very unique problems like roof rats. And so I talk about as a business person, how to survive here in Arizona, what kinds of things to consider and look out for. And I tried to tell people, it's a great place to live. People know that already. But there are some things that are different here that you have to look out for Scorpio, roof rats, rattle steaks, black nose, yeah, 115 degree temperatures now one ban. But I tried to keep it very upbeat. And I also tried to acknowledge people here in Arizona that are doing very positive things like McCain, I mentioned in there, people who, because Arizona doesn't get any recognition really has a very strange reputation outside of Arizona. And I wanted to get across that is very normal place. With it's a purple state that much into that, but it's we have people all kinds and all religions and all people think there are people of color hair for some reason, because it sort of looks that way if you walk through parts of Scottsdale, but it's gonna be majority minority state a couple of years. So there are plenty of people of color here. And it's just a wonderful place to live. So my second book while it's out, it's about me and people. I never hear what they've accomplished. It's also i My love you but who? Arizona. Michael Hingson ** 1:01:51 So do you see desert tortoises these days? 1:01:56 I hear are Phoenix not anymore? Because it's so built up? Yeah. But the thing is, Phoenix is also spread out, believe it or not, it's the biggest city now geographically in the country. surpassed LA. So now it's the biggest Yeah. And so around the edges, people live around the edges. So they see tortoises, but they also see coyotes and rattlesnakes. So I, you know, I had my years as a wildlife biologist, I don't need that anymore. Michael Hingson ** 1:02:29 Well, if people want to reach out and contact you, how do they do that? Okay. 1:02:34 Pretty simple. You could get my website that's about me is Denise. Meridith. Michael Hingson ** 1:02:41 Can you spell that, please? Yeah, I Denise Meridith ** 1:02:43 was about to do that. Oh, great. Yeah, that's people fill it in correctly. So thats D e n i s e m e r i d i t h.com. Meridith is normally spelt with two E's, so I don't get much junk mail. But it's denisemeridith.com is my website. And you can sort of go from there links you to all things, world's best connectors is the wbcs.com. Again, and my ComiCon routine, but we're the WBCs that's what we pretend to be. But it's t h e w b c s.com. And that's the other site they can go to. And I really welcome people to go in and read to kids.us if you want to see airy, and hear about airy, and get some kids books, but I really want to encourage people to read to their children and read to their grandchildren. It's like a lot of stars, Michael. It's getting to be a lost art. And if Michael Hingson ** 1:03:43 people go to our our show notes, and so on. You have some gifts that you're giving away. Yes, Denise Meridith ** 1:03:49 yes, I have. It's called the we're talking about mentors, right. So it's called a mentors almanac. One of the gifts that I'm giving away in which you can, and what it is is 365 tips on how to be a great leader. And so I have a sort of a mantra every day that you can use, that you can use in helping you mentor other people, and also hopefully help yourself at the same time. And then people can call me and when they go to my site, they can get the phone number there too. And set up a call with me about coaching. Again, I have masterminds. I'm starting a mastermind here, probably the end of the month, so call me about that. And I also do personal coaching private coaching. And while I emphasize Gen X and baby boomers I you know, really executive coach for anyone. It's just those groups are pretty in need. Right now of that. I get it kids through my events, like world's best connectors through my events with the educational program. So I'm going to be helping kids. I'm not discriminating against younger people. I'm going to be helping them. But I coach, Baby Boomers and Gen X primarily. Cool. Michael Hingson ** 1:05:10 Well, again, I want to thank you for being here. This has been a lot of fun. Can you believe it? We've been doing it over an hour now, which Denise Meridith ** 1:05:18 I appreciate it. It's, well, I went I'm once I met you, I know this is gonna be great. I think we're gonna stay in touch and do a Michael Hingson ** 1:05:26 lot of good things. Well, I sincerely hope so and definitely want to do that. So I want to thank you again. And thanks for listening wherever you are, we really appreciate it. Whether you're listening or watching on YouTube or some other podcast source would really appreciate it. If you give us a five star rating we value your ratings very highly. And of course, needless to say, Love five star rating. So please do that. Love your opinions, any thoughts that you have about what we did today and we appreciate your opinions. If you know of anyone who ought to be a guest on unstoppable mindset. Denise, you as well. Please let us know we're always looking for additional guests, people who we can have on to tell their stories and talk about what they'd like to talk about. If you wish to reach out to me you can do so by emailing me at Michael m i c h a e l h i, at accessiBe A C C E S S I B e.com. You can also go to our podcast webpage, www dot Michael hingson.com/podcast. And Michael Hingson is m i c h a e l h i n g s o n So www dot Michael hingson.com/podcasts. And again, love those ratings really appreciate it. And we definitely want to hear from you and get your thoughts. So, one last time, Denise, I want to thank you for being here and taking so much time to be with us. Denise Meridith ** 1:06:57 Thank you, Michael and I wish you continued success. **Michael Hingson ** 1:07:03 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for Listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.
