Artwork for podcast Voice over Work - An Audiobook Sampler
Unlocking Creativity: The Power of Play in Professional and Personal Growth
14th September 2025 • Voice over Work - An Audiobook Sampler • Russell Newton
00:00:00 00:56:24

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Jolynn Ledgerwood:

heard a, um, a quote a long time ago.

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It's not what's wrong with us,

it's what's happened to us.

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if there's been situations in our

past that have been really positive

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or really negative, that really

does taint who we are as adults

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anybody tells you that that's.

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Not okay.

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Or, oh, you shouldn't go see a counselor.

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Those are the people sadly,

that probably need it the most.

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You bring in play to work and or

playfulness, It gives everybody a voice.

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It allows people to interact

with each other on a level

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that maybe they haven't before.

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Russell Newton: Hello listeners and

welcome back to Social Skills Coaching,

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where you become more likable, more

charismatic, and more productive.

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And today we're gonna take a branch

off that more productive part, because

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our guest, Jolyn Ledgerwood is a

consultant, coach, therapist, counselor.

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Probably a wide variety of

things, podcaster, I'm sure.

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as well as, uh, other social media sites.

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Jolyn, please introduce yourself

to our listeners and we'll take

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the conversation from there.

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Jolynn Ledgerwood: Absolutely.

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Thank you so much for having me.

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as you said, my name is Jolyn Ledgerwood.

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I started my business Elevate

Your Talent a year and a half ago.

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previously I'd worked in corporate

America in various different types.

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Of businesses, startups, cybersecurity,

law, all different types of areas where I

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was director of training and development.

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And absolutely loved training individuals

on how to be better at their work

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and happier find their innate talents

so that they could check those boxes

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while they were at work or while they

were at home, to make them feel like

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they're living a more fulfilled life.

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and doing that in the corporate setting.

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They normally want you to write

manuals and boring stuff like that.

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And so I went out on my own and

started to elevate your talent where

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I coach teams and individuals on

how to work better in the workplace.

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I use several different methodologies.

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The more the most popular is Lego series

play, and I also use Clifton Strengths

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Primal Question, Bob Goff's, dream Big.

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and just try to use those a

more well-rounded approach

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to coaching people and teams.

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Russell Newton: Fantastic.

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Thank you very much.

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you know what I, I, I'm gonna do something

a little different today for the podcast.

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Uh, I, I notice when I go

back and edit the video, I pay

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much more attention to the.

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Uh, surroundings of the people.

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And there are oftentimes

questions that I like to ask

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about what's in the background.

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And I, I see, some yellow

containers on the other side of you.

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Can you lean the other way for a second?

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Yeah.

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and the other things that are on

your bookshelf back there indicates

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that, uh, while you're a serious

professional, uh, you definitely don't

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take a too serious approach to life.

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And of course, that's reflected in

one of your main platforms, the Lego.

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Serious play workshops.

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So those things combined.

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Tell us something about that.

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And then I want to get to the, the

picture on the top of your bookshelf.

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Jolynn Ledgerwood: Yeah, sure.

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Absolutely.

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so years ago I was having lunch with

a friend that I hadn't spoken to in a

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really long time, and he brought with

him a small kit of six Lego pieces.

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There's four yellow and two

red, and he said, build a duck.

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And I thought, what are

whatcha talking about?

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And of course, it's a very abstract duck

because there's not even number pieces.

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And so I put it together and he

was like, tell me about your duck.

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And I was like.

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Okay, here's the feet, here's

the, you know, the explained it.

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And he had also built a deck and his

was completely different than mine.

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And he said, this is a

work that I've gotten into.

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It's called Lego Serious Play.

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It's allowing people to use

their hands to think through

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questions and problems and whatnot.

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And he said, and it's really cool.

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And I thought, oh my God.

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Yeah, that's really cool.

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So I looked into it.

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There's over 15,000 certified

facilitators overseas.

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There's maybe a hundred

here in the United States.

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And I thought, this is insane.

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Like why?

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Like we're Americans, we like to play.

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And the more I think Right, exactly.

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The more I thought about it, and the

more people I've spoken to, it's because.

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Americans, and again, please

nobody take this personally.

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We have this little box of what

work is supposed to look like, and

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if it doesn't fit in that little

bitty box, then it can't help us.

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We don't want any part of it.

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Forget it.

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Like we have work to do.

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We have real work to do.

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When you bring in play to work

and or playfulness, it doesn't

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matter what that looks like.

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It really does allow people

to let their guard down.

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It gives everybody a voice.

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It allows people to interact

with each other on a level

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that maybe they haven't before.

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imagine the old days when we used to walk

into a conference room or the fishbowl,

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as some people call it, and you'd just

have this like anxiety and this angst

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just kind of creep up on you 'cause

you don't know what's gonna happen.

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You don't know what's gonna be said.

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Versus walking into that same conference

room or fishbowl and every place

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setting has a set of Legos sitting

next to it and you go, a second, what?

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What's this about?

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We're gonna have a strategic session,

but we're gonna have fun while we do it.

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And we use the Legos and the methodology

to really open people's minds and how.

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What is their subconscious telling

them that they don't think to say

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lot of highly, energetic people.

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A-D-H-D-A-D-D, people with just

high anxiety in general don't

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like to sit and do nothing.

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They need something to play with,

something to use their hands on.

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And Lego Series play was

a great way to do that.

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And by doing that in my

business, it kind of helps.

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Propel and financially

support my Lego habit.

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when I was a young adult, when I had

a stressful day or when I was tired, I

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would find a Lego set that I really liked

and would buy it and build it, and that

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Russell Newton: Okay.

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Jolynn Ledgerwood: my stress.

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That just allowed me to just

kind of zen and chill and as.

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Lego continues to grow.

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Their sets are just becoming phenomenal.

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Russell Newton: right.

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Jolynn Ledgerwood: and over sets are, I

mean, some of them are just beautiful.

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The Starry Night is my absolute favorite.

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the Great Wave was fun to do, but it

wasn't as colorful, you know, so it's

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just, it's exciting to have something

else to do with one of my passions.

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Russell Newton: So much in there.

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Yeah.

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so we both have a international,

corporate IT background, sounds like.

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So, Yeah, I remember walking into the,

the boardroom was our, our big meeting

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room or the teleconference room at that.

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Of course, this was before Zoom

and everything was so common, so

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teleconference was more rare, and a

little more nerve wracking and a little

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pickier hardly ever worked, seemed like.

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but when you walk in and, I mean,

honestly, we usually look for

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cookies or, something on the table,

but to have a manipulative there.

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rather than just an agenda.

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Yeah.

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Just changes the mindset of

everybody walking into the room.

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I imagine conversations are

completely different of people

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beginning the meeting and so forth.

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That sounds like a

great, a great approach.

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I was reminded of a Rorschach test almost

with your first, uh, with your first

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duck, uh, and how that was put together.

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So that's, uh.

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I wouldn't be able to draw much conclusion

from it, but it's an interesting premise

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to base a conversation and a, and a

development, developing a relationship on.

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It's great.

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yeah.

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Legos are, European.

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I, I'm gonna name a country,

but I'm gonna get it wrong.

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Are they, are they finished

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Jolynn Ledgerwood: So Dutch?

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Mm-hmm.

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Russell Newton: Dutch?

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Yeah.

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Jolynn Ledgerwood: Yeah.

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Russell Newton: Yeah.

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So I imagine, maybe

that's why a little more.

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Accepted in the business world,

overseas, then in the States.

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But really,

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Jolynn Ledgerwood: Yeah.

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Russell Newton: Lego is pretty big in

the us Like I say, there's so many kits.

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I never did a, I never was a Lego

guy myself, but you have a long

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history of Lego use, so it makes

you an expert coming into the,

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Jolynn Ledgerwood: Ooh, I

don't know about an expert.

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I like to follow the

rules when I get my books.

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a lot of people say that they take

the rule book and toss it and just

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build whatever they wanna build.

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I don't have a creative

brain like that, so

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Russell Newton: okay.

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Jolynn Ledgerwood: walking into a room.

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those Lego bricks, I'd probably

be one of 'em that's like, I'm not

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creative, I don't know what I'm doing.

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just starting with something small

facilitators have, you know, a regimen

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to kind of just get people comfortable

with the bricks and get them touching

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and you know, moving 'em around and

clicking pieces together and not, and it

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really just kind of takes that edge off.

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if you're in the room, you're building.

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that's the leaders, the

CEO, the operating officer.

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If they're in the room all the

way down to, I don't know, your

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administrative assistant might be

in the room or the new person that

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just started might be in the room.

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Everybody builds.

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Everybody has a place at the table and

everybody gets the same time and energy

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in explaining their builds, what's in it,

what's not, all types of different things.

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But you'd really be amazed if you.

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Could hear and see, and I working really

hard to get somebody to allow recording,

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to see some of the output that you get.

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I mean, when, when I was first

learning how to do this, I'm gonna

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scramble in my kit that we always use,

we were told Build your ideal CEO.

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And I thought, okay,

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Russell Newton: Your ideal?

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What?

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Say that again.

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Jolynn Ledgerwood: CEO,

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Russell Newton: CEO.

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Okay.

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Jolynn Ledgerwood: Yeah.

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C, chief executive officer.

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Russell Newton: Okay.

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Jolynn Ledgerwood: And it, a

lot of it's metaphor usage, so.

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this green brick can mean a green brick.

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It can mean future, growth.

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It can mean a turtle, it

could mean ecolo, you know?

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yeah.

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the word just escape me again.

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environmental awareness, it

could mean anything like that.

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So whatever you say the

bricks mean is what they mean.

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Russell Newton: Okay.

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Jolynn Ledgerwood: so I built this, and

I'm gonna put it on a little pedestal

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so you can see I built my ideal CEO.

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And this is obviously just a very small

part of it, but it was, it was really cool

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because the facilitator was able to ask

me a question, there's, that was my ideal.

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CEO.

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It's just a little Lego mini

figure with one foot up.

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I do not recall intentionally

putting the foot up.

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I don't recall my brain telling me, oh,

don't forget, you need to, he needs to

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have a, he or she needs to have a foot up.

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And so when the facilitator

looked at my model.

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And asked, you know,

what does that leg mean?

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His leg is up, does that

mean anything to you?

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And I thought,

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yeah, I think it means that I want

him to be forward motion and always

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moving forward, not stagnant.

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And this is where we are and

this is what we're doing, but

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how can we make this even better?

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Or how can we be even better together?

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ever since all of my Lego figures now

have one leg up because that's for me,

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that's taking me back to when I first

learned how to do this and what it was

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about, and it just, asking the questions

and hearing some of the responses.

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Even the members themselves are surprised.

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you build with your hands, you open

up 80% more of your brain power.

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And I tell people, don't overthink it.

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Just build whatever your hands are doing.

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Just build, keep doing something

to, don't overthink it.

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Just build.

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the models that they come up

with are just fascinating.

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It's even at, it works for business

corporate groups, it works for

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individuals, it works for small groups.

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one of the groups I was coaching.

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A woman had to bring her kids in

'cause school was out in the daycare,

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wasn't open for some reason, their

builds were just as good, if not a

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different, completely different aspect.

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But the adult build, so everybody

has a seat at the table.

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It doesn't matter how old you are,

where you've been, what you're doing,

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I'm actually thinking of creating a.

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Like a, not a subscription box, but

like a parenting play with purpose.

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So helping parents with these kids,

having more conversations with their kids

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instead of phone and digital all the time.

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We sit around the table and we talk

about, know, we're building and

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we're asking questions, and we're

understanding a little bit more about

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what's going on in our kids' minds that

they can't articulate as well, verbally

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as they can when they're building.

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Russell Newton: A lot in there as well.

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Just the, the process of your

hands doing something allows your

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mind to work in a different way.

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So different things come to

mind or don't come to mind, but

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are present in the work there.

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kind of similar sounds like to maybe

stream of consciousness writing or,

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uh, what are they, there's a phrase

for the certain type of journaling.

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Whereas just you just basically,

it's stream of consciousness,

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but they don't call it that,

but it's just, just put it out.

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Just let the pen go.

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You're not overthinking it, you're

just, you're just doing, have you

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done this with a, you mentioned

some, a mother and children.

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Have you done it in a family type,

I don't wanna call it therapy or

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counseling, but in a family session.

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Have you tried that or is it mostly

a smaller group just professionally

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related or socially related?

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Jolynn Ledgerwood: It's

a great question and I.

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My husband lives in Nashville with

his two boys, and so I, and I live

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in Dallas, Texas with my girls.

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And so I sent him sets for he and

the boys to do together, with prompts

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and questions and all the details.

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I wasn't there, I was here, but

he videotaped it and sent me the

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video of what they talked about

and what it was like, and, So for

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that aspect, yes, I have, I enjoy

doing it with individuals as well.

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There's a standard kit that I send my,

coachee and they're, it's a mix match

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of bricks, but they're all the same.

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So each bag is the same that I, that I

send out and I'll send, you know, I'll

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ask, give them prompts over the Zoom or

whatever we're using of, you know, build

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your ideal job, build something that

makes you happy, build something that.

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You see as an impediment in your business?

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And we talk about the builds as

they build and we reflect and we

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look at the question, you know, we

look at aspects of the builds to

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kind of bring awareness to them.

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You know, I see that the,

you know, the bottom base is

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like black and brown bricks.

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Is there a reason?

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Yeah, I just, I feel like I'm

kind of stuck and I'm like,

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okay, let's talk about that.

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How do we get around that and how

do we or work through that and

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how do we get to a better place?

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but yeah, the bricks, are you one-on-one?

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They can be small groups.

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The largest group that I like doing is

probably 12 to 15, just because you want

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everybody to have time to share and.

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So, yeah, individuals are so fun because

they're like, my kids are gonna be

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jealous when I get a bag of Legos.

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Like, right, but they're yours.

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They're not for them just yet.

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And I encourage people to

leave them on their desk.

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I know you don't want stuff on your

desk, but find a small little container

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that you can store your Legos in.

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And if you have a brain block,

or if you're having a bad day, or

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if you're looking for, you know,

bring the bricks out and start

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building again and see what happens.

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You'd be amazed at some of the things that

your brain's gonna put through your hands

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that's not actively percolating up there.

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Russell Newton: That's great.

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you know, so many times we, I'm reminded

of like the Executive Zen Garden.

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Right, that you, you'll see every, and

I have one, actually, I don't have it

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on the table here, but I do have one.

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Jolynn Ledgerwood: Yeah.

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Russell Newton: if nothing else, a

stress ball or what used to be the

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wave, you know, the, the blue and clear

liquid thing that rocked back and forth,

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Jolynn Ledgerwood: Mm-hmm.

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Russell Newton: those types of things.

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Jolynn Ledgerwood: shook it and then it

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Russell Newton: Exactly.

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Jolynn Ledgerwood: everything.

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Russell Newton: That's right.

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The bubbles in and then started

leaking and all the, yeah.

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oops, I dropped it.

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Is that a bad thing?

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Jolynn Ledgerwood: And that's

the, you know, I understand.

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I don't like clutter on my desk either,

but there's plenty of days where I break

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out my Legos and try to work through,

you know, what does this look like

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to me and what do I want it to look

like and what's stopping me and why.

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And, it's, it's really fascinating.

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Russell Newton: Have you ever

had somebody just flat refuse?

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I'm not gonna play with those.

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Uh, I'm too mature for that.

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Jolynn Ledgerwood: Yes.

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in a group setting, and

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Russell Newton: I.

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Jolynn Ledgerwood: I'm not the

one, I'm not trying to force

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Russell Newton: Right.

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Jolynn Ledgerwood: This is an

activity we would like for you to

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participate, if you'll just try.

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a couple things we do at the

beginning that are really innocuous.

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It's like, no, right, or,

I mean, just putting bricks

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together is all you're doing.

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We, you just will you try, give it a

chance and just see what you think.

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And normally by the third

or fourth exercise, they're

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Russell Newton: Yeah.

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Jolynn Ledgerwood: that

are jumping to the other

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Russell Newton: Yeah.

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Jolynn Ledgerwood: get more

bricks or ask, you know.

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Like I said, I'm not cre,

I'm not a creative person.

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Like that's just not how my,

I'm very black and white.

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I'm, I'm that box normally kind of person.

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So to put Legos in front of people,

it kind of lets their guard down.

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It just kind of says, we're

just like, this is just play.

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We're just putting pieces together

and you know, I'm, I'm not

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trying to be manipulative at all.

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It's just a different way to

open your brain to what's going

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on inside of there without.

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Struggling to find the right words.

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'cause somebody might misinterpret

or struggling to say the right thing

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because maybe that's not a good idea.

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When we're building, we can say,

this is what I think is a potential,

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know, way for us to have more sales.

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And we talk about it and there's

other people that'll say, oh, I

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didn't even think about that, or

I didn't know you thought that.

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That's amazing.

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Like it really opens us up to

understanding more of each other and

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understanding more of ourselves too.

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Russell Newton: Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Jolynn Ledgerwood: Yeah.

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Russell Newton: Now I could give

someone a stack of Legos and ask

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them to build something and, you

know, coach them through something

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and, and come up with a product.

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But you're basing that entire

process on something, a, a much

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deeper understanding of things that

are going on in the background.

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So while we, the foreground is, is

looking at the Legos, the background,

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you must have a, um, a lot of

training, a lot of experience in.

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At least counseling, if not therapy.

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Can you tell us about your, your

background on that side of things?

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Uh, schooling experience that,

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Jolynn Ledgerwood: Absolutely.

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Russell Newton: maybe what school I, I

know I saw some, did I see neurolinguistic

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and I was thought, I was reminded of NLP,

but I didn't know, I seen neuroscience

386

:

based is the phrase that was in my mind.

387

:

if there's a school that you come from

or that the work is based off of, can

388

:

you just share some of the professional

389

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: Yeah,

390

:

Russell Newton: aspects there?

391

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: You'll be surprised.

392

:

I'm not a counselor, I'm

not a therapist, I'm a

393

:

Russell Newton: Okay.

394

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: And if in my

work I find that maybe that's a

395

:

direction that I wanna encourage my

clients to go to, I absolutely will.

396

:

I'm a huge advocate for mental health.

397

:

I see a counselor regularly, my kids.

398

:

so really my background's

a little bit different.

399

:

I, I don't have a college education.

400

:

I went to college for three and

a half years, studied nursing

401

:

at Texas Tech University.

402

:

my third year, my dean

was aware and noticed.

403

:

You use all the tutors that are

available, you're here at class every

404

:

day, like what is going on with you?

405

:

So she sent me to see an

educational psychologist.

406

:

This is back in 95, 96, when learning

disabilities weren't a thing.

407

:

It was, well, you're not studying

hard enough, or you're not trying

408

:

hard enough, or you're not.

409

:

Listening in class or whatever.

410

:

she, the educational psychologist,

diagnosed me with a pretty

411

:

severe learning disability.

412

:

and it was kind of a wake up call

like, okay, so now it makes sense

413

:

why I've struggled so much in school

and I was an AB student, I had to

414

:

bring home all my books every night

to study all the things every night.

415

:

It was just, it wasn't fun for me.

416

:

work at the time was going great.

417

:

I was being rewarded for being,

I was in the restaurant business.

418

:

Being an awesome employee.

419

:

I was traveling over the summer to

train new employees at new restaurants,

420

:

and so I thought, you know what?

421

:

This is, this feels really

good and this really does it.

422

:

So I went the path in the learn the

rest in the restaurant business, and.

423

:

to work up to the corporate office

where I could then help managers

424

:

train their employees on how to be

good employees, how to train others.

425

:

I really wanted to focus on the

different adult learning principles.

426

:

Everybody learns so

completely differently.

427

:

I could hand you a paper and say,

study this, and you'd probably knock

428

:

it out in an hour, hour and a half.

429

:

For me to sit down and read an article

like that, I would have to have like.

430

:

A completely silent room.

431

:

No other distractions, like

I just don't learn that way.

432

:

And so I really focused my career

on helping others learn in different

433

:

ways, helping understand that

not everybody learns the same.

434

:

and like I said, I worked from

the restaurant business up to, I

435

:

did a small stint in retail and

then I went to IT cybersecurity.

436

:

Here I am today.

437

:

So I don't have any professional

education at a, at a university,

438

:

but I have a ton of life experience.

439

:

I've been certified in several

different methodologies, and I continue

440

:

to want to learn new methodologies.

441

:

I know there's so much out there that

resonate differently with different

442

:

people, and so I try to use that

experience to help them through whatever

443

:

it is that they might be going through.

444

:

Russell Newton: I hope my question didn't

445

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: No,

446

:

Russell Newton: as,

447

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: not at all.

448

:

No.

449

:

I'm an open book.

450

:

Russell Newton: As an

academic at which I am not.

451

:

I mean, a, I did, I taught

high school for quite a while.

452

:

so some of the things you, you talk about

there, not so much from an experience

453

:

of myself, but in dealing with chil,

with children, with, high schoolers,

454

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood:

deserve like all the, I.

455

:

I, yes.

456

:

They're amazing people.

457

:

Mm-hmm.

458

:

Russell Newton: um, I taught in a,

a, a private Christian school, so

459

:

it was quite a different situation

than a lot of public school teachers.

460

:

Yeah.

461

:

In um.

462

:

The, the orders of magnitudes

of difference between

463

:

my situation and theirs.

464

:

But you mentioned learning disabilities

and we did a, a podcast episode a week

465

:

or two ago with Rick Coton and it was,

uh, talked about his A DHD and the

466

:

struggles, but also, and then on the

other side and, and really learning

467

:

disabilities become a, a regular piece

of conversation on the podcast because

468

:

once the it and I, I'm gonna say this.

469

:

Hoping you'll correct

me or, or confirm it?

470

:

either way.

471

:

so, and there's a little history to the

question because, uh, and I've, I've

472

:

gone through this before as a young

teacher starting in the mid eighties.

473

:

I'll date myself again.

474

:

Uh, learning disability wasn't a thing.

475

:

You, you knew you had problem

kids, you knew he had smart kids.

476

:

So, and maybe the dumb kids too,

depending on how you wanted to.

477

:

The kids that didn't care.

478

:

We'll see, we'll put it that way.

479

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: Exactly.

480

:

Russell Newton: know,

481

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: yeah.

482

:

Russell Newton: a wide range of things.

483

:

So we didn't know there

wasn't really a diagnosis.

484

:

And the first time I came across

it, it was very uncomfortable for

485

:

me because I didn't know how to work

with this, with this one student,

486

:

you know, and the parents were asking

questions that I couldn't answer.

487

:

I, I was not prepared for it in any way.

488

:

But it seems like as things have changed

in education and in in society itself.

489

:

Well, learning disability still has

some stigma, but not the stigma maybe

490

:

that it used to have, and just the fact

that you can name it, you can, if not

491

:

point to a cause, at least you can point

to a, a commonality, you know, this is

492

:

something, this is not, you're not just,

you're not weird, you're not different.

493

:

You're a smaller representation

in the population

494

:

and then learning to harness

that or work around it.

495

:

I think is really, it's just one struggle

that a lot of very successful people

496

:

have gone through on top of number,

no, nobody gets to be, you know, real

497

:

successful without the struggles.

498

:

but identifying that,

harnessing it if possible.

499

:

You mentioned to overcoming

it, finding a way around it

500

:

to, to surmount that challenge.

501

:

Does any of that theory hold water?

502

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: Well, you touched

on a lot there, Russell, and I'm

503

:

Russell Newton: Yes.

504

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: with, and

that's good that, that's all good.

505

:

It's great conversation.

506

:

I'm gonna start with you didn't know back

then and we didn't know back then we did.

507

:

You know, and so it wasn't

you individually, you didn't

508

:

know how to, nobody did.

509

:

We

510

:

Russell Newton: Right.

511

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: a society.

512

:

think that may not be right with the kid.

513

:

It's just they're not trying hard enough.

514

:

Like try harder.

515

:

Okay.

516

:

You, you can't do that necessarily.

517

:

I can try as hard as I want, but if

there's a squirrel, then I'm out.

518

:

Like, see you later, alligator.

519

:

so.

520

:

I, I interviewed with somebody once and

he said his A DHD is his superpower.

521

:

I was like, okay, well that's a,

that's a good way of, I mean, that's

522

:

Russell Newton: Yeah.

523

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: of embracing it.

524

:

I recognized when I was doing, when there

would be like sales kickoff meetings that

525

:

were in conference rooms that you take

high energy people, salesmen, saleswomen,

526

:

you put them in a conference room or a.

527

:

with tables, you know, eight pieces,

eight, eight people per table.

528

:

And then you force them to listen

to a sales leader for two days.

529

:

They're outta their

minds like they are gone.

530

:

after the, and I noticed the first

day they would stand up, they'd

531

:

kind of pace back and forth.

532

:

They'd go to the, you know,

they were always like moving

533

:

Russell Newton: Even that.

534

:

Pardon the interruption.

535

:

Even that is very school-like.

536

:

Right?

537

:

It goes back to fifties education.

538

:

Sit at your assigned seat, listen

to what's going on and learn.

539

:

Yeah.

540

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: No,

you're exactly right.

541

:

It's, this is how we're gonna teach you.

542

:

I have to stand up here.

543

:

You have to sit down there and

listen and this is important stuff.

544

:

So you have to listen.

545

:

Russell Newton: Listen well.

546

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: You are right.

547

:

Right.

548

:

And they're not, because they're

not active, they're not engaged.

549

:

They, it's, care how great.

550

:

Of a speaker you have, if he's not a or

she's not a comedian, or not somebody that

551

:

can bring a lot of humor into it, it's

gonna be really dry, boring information.

552

:

And yes, it's important that

they learn, but process isn't

553

:

about well I give it to you.

554

:

It's how well are they accepting

that information and if they're

555

:

not accepting that information.

556

:

Then it's a complete loss.

557

:

So the second day I brought in

Play-Doh and I put a piece of a little

558

:

small conter, not a big one, just

a small container and every seat.

559

:

And they came in, they're like,

what's up with the Play-Doh?

560

:

And I'm like, you, it's yours.

561

:

Whatever you wanna do with it, do with it.

562

:

Well, is it for like an activity later?

563

:

No.

564

:

Just use it.

565

:

And I'm telling you what Russell, I did

not, there was no scientific method.

566

:

There was just like a hunch.

567

:

That day, they sat at the tables, they

were listening to the conversation

568

:

while they were playing, building

the most intricate designs with

569

:

Play-Doh I have ever seen in my life.

570

:

But it allowed me to see that,

that they need something to do.

571

:

Like just throwing people in a

conference room and saying, let's

572

:

brainstorm isn't gonna work.

573

:

Like a lot of people don't, their

brains just don't work like that.

574

:

One of the methodologies I

teach is strengths, Clifton

575

:

strengths finders, which if, if.

576

:

is not, and there's different,

34 different themes and talents.

577

:

It rates your one through 34

that everybody has the same.

578

:

It just depends on how they're rated.

579

:

If the four or five strategic are not

in your top five, if I put you in a

580

:

conference room, you just shut down.

581

:

Your brain

582

:

Russell Newton: Yeah.

583

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: that way.

584

:

You don't wanna inc.

585

:

You don't wanna participate because that.

586

:

When it comes to a new hire,

I am all about that new hire.

587

:

I'm gonna make sure that

person feels wanted seen.

588

:

I'm gonna help teach 'em

whatever they need to learn.

589

:

But it's different ways

that our brains work.

590

:

And when we force people to do

things that are against the way that

591

:

their brain works, they shut down.

592

:

They don't wanna be a part of it,

they can almost become negative

593

:

and have like a really, tarnished

interpretation of what's happening.

594

:

but yeah, the A DHD, it manifests

in so many different ways.

595

:

And it manifests different in everybody.

596

:

I heard a, a quote a long time ago.

597

:

It's not what's wrong with us,

it's what's happened to us.

598

:

So

599

:

Russell Newton: Wow.

600

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: I know I was

like, oh, that hits, if there's been

601

:

trauma in our past, if there's been

situations in our past that have been

602

:

really positive or really negative,

that really does taint who we are as

603

:

adults and it really does show that.

604

:

It's not that I'm not trying,

it's that I'm not motivated.

605

:

I'm not.

606

:

I don't feel safe, I don't feel important.

607

:

There's other aspects to

that of people shutting down.

608

:

And when coaches or leaders in different

positions can see that and can recognize

609

:

and acknowledge that, I think that

really allows the learner A DHD or not

610

:

to just kind of go, okay, I feel seen.

611

:

I feel like I'm safe here.

612

:

and that's really, really important.

613

:

Russell Newton: When you say

learner, of course you replace that

614

:

with person because that applies

in whatever the situation is.

615

:

Business, family, social,

616

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: Yep.

617

:

Russell Newton: whatever.

618

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: Yeah,

619

:

Russell Newton: say that

quote again for me, please.

620

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: it's

621

:

Russell Newton: It

622

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: what's wrong with

you, it's what's what happened to you.

623

:

Russell Newton: that,

that's really strong.

624

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: Yeah,

625

:

Russell Newton: yeah, we should

have that plastered in a, in a

626

:

lot of classrooms and, a lot of,

business offices around the country.

627

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: yeah.

628

:

And I

629

:

I may not have it with me,

but, there was a book written.

630

:

I will, yeah.

631

:

Hold on.

632

:

It's on my bookshelf.

633

:

Dr.

634

:

Bruce Perry wrote the book originally

and then Oprah Winfrey came back and

635

:

did a whole series with, with him on it.

636

:

and just the, and I'll be happy

to send this to you if you wanna

637

:

show your, share, your listeners.

638

:

It's, it's not something that I said by

any stretch, but the methodology behind

639

:

it is fascinating and just how deep.

640

:

Some of those wounds may be

641

:

Russell Newton: Right.

642

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: themselves

don't even recognize it.

643

:

They don't even see or understand why

they're having that triggered response.

644

:

But when you dig a little bit

deeper, you're like, okay,

645

:

that makes a lot of sense.

646

:

Russell Newton: Yeah, well,

that, that's really strong.

647

:

We talked in a, again, in a previous

episode, not, I don't think the

648

:

episode's even been released yet

649

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: Okay.

650

:

Russell Newton: trauma, identifying

trauma and, you know, we hear trauma

651

:

and we think er, PTSD, significant

abuse as a child, but that's,

652

:

trauma can be shallower than that.

653

:

It can be deeper than that.

654

:

And you alluded, uh, I asked you to tie

these two concepts together maybe, because

655

:

in your personal coaching, you certainly

come across people as you alluded to,

656

:

that you would recommend, to some,

to someone with a different approach.

657

:

Someone with a, uh, maybe

a medical background, a

658

:

psychiatrist or a psychologist.

659

:

What would you say to a listener

who, Is on the borderline.

660

:

Maybe.

661

:

You know, they, they, obviously

they're listening to the podcast.

662

:

They may be reading materials

and, you know, making some

663

:

progress, trying some things.

664

:

But there seems to be a roadblock

or something they don't understand,

665

:

something they can't get past.

666

:

Maybe they're hesitant about the,

again, stigma of having counseling.

667

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: Like I said earlier,

I am a huge advocate for mental health.

668

:

I also recognize that a particular

counselor is not gonna provide the

669

:

same result to different people.

670

:

Russell Newton: Exactly.

671

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: recommendation is

to always talk to somebody, like if you

672

:

find a counselor that you really enjoy.

673

:

Talk to them.

674

:

If you find a coach that you feel

like can really tap into what you

675

:

need and is driving you and pushing

you forward to be better and to.

676

:

Sometimes we can't heal those wounds

and we can't heal that trauma, but

677

:

we can learn how to deal with it.

678

:

and that's been huge

in my personal journey.

679

:

but people that are struggling,

like find somebody that you feel

680

:

comfortable talking to, it doesn't

have to be a licensed professional.

681

:

Sometimes that's helpful

depending on how deep and.

682

:

How much it's affecting your life.

683

:

Maybe that's important, but if you

have a pastor minister that's important

684

:

to you, or a dear family friend,

maybe a friend of your parents that

685

:

was part of you growing up that may

understand some of those things about

686

:

what you went through, now more than

ever, mental health is being accepted.

687

:

Russell Newton: Right.

688

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: anybody

tells you that that's.

689

:

Not okay.

690

:

Or, oh, you shouldn't go see a counselor.

691

:

Those are the people sadly,

that probably need it the most.

692

:

So

693

:

Russell Newton: Fine.

694

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: what you need and

get the help that you need depending

695

:

on wherever you're sitting, and know

that you're worthy and of being better.

696

:

You are more than enough to bring to

the table, in your space, wherever

697

:

that space looks like for you.

698

:

But you are loved and you are.

699

:

Important to the people

that are around you.

700

:

So talk to somebody and find somebody

that can really listen to you and can

701

:

help you and kind of see where you are and

where you wanna go, and can give you some

702

:

really practical tips on how to get there.

703

:

Russell Newton: We use the phrase

on the podcast, occasionally talk

704

:

therapy, which most people have

the concept of, okay, that's the

705

:

formal setting I'm on the couch.

706

:

Or you know, if it's an NLP or A-A-C-B-T

type of session where it's a, um,

707

:

I'm having, you know, a conversation.

708

:

But really studies show, talk therapy is

not a, a formal therapeutic relationship

709

:

that's required, as you say, anybody, a,

a pastor, a friend, a an old teacher, a.

710

:

A younger person in your life,

711

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: Yeah.

712

:

Russell Newton: uh, really can

create a lot of openings and a lot

713

:

of possibility for understanding

and progress within your own head.

714

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: Absolutely.

715

:

Yep.

716

:

Russell Newton: Yeah.

717

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: And,

718

:

not every counselor's gonna fit you.

719

:

If you go

720

:

Russell Newton: that's important too.

721

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: is awful.

722

:

Like, that's okay.

723

:

That's not the same as everybody else.

724

:

And it's okay to ask for what you

want when you set those appointments.

725

:

You know, I wanna be able to just spill

all of my stuff and not be judged,

726

:

and the counselors should quickly.

727

:

Absolutely.

728

:

Would you like for me to help you

with any of those things or, I just

729

:

wanted to make that differentiation

that not all counselors are

730

:

gonna be great for everybody.

731

:

Find the one that works for you.

732

:

And there may even come a point if

you've been seeing them for two or three

733

:

years that it doesn't work anymore.

734

:

And so it's okay to find a new counselor.

735

:

My husband's been seeing the

same guy for 12 years, I think,

736

:

which I think is phenomenal.

737

:

I'm glad that they've got that connection.

738

:

I've never been so lucky.

739

:

So I find different counselors

every once in a while.

740

:

Russell Newton: Those

are all great points.

741

:

If you have someone that's

discouraging you from.

742

:

Counseling or coaching or mentoring

or therapy, whatever level it is,

743

:

that's the person, as you say,

that might need it the most and

744

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: Mm-hmm.

745

:

Russell Newton: why they

would discourage someone.

746

:

There must be some selfish reason there.

747

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: insecurity.

748

:

There's

749

:

Russell Newton: some.

750

:

Exactly.

751

:

Exactly.

752

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: up everywhere.

753

:

Yeah.

754

:

Russell Newton: But if you're in

a relationship, in a professional

755

:

relationship with a mentor or someone and

they discourage you from expanding into

756

:

something else, that's the same red flag.

757

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: Absolutely.

758

:

Russell Newton: Yeah, I was surprised

I took some graduate courses, when I

759

:

was still teaching in counsel in school

counseling, so I have a little bit of

760

:

familiarity with it, and I was surprised.

761

:

At one point they talked about, you

know, how you, how people should

762

:

find a counselor, and this was

in counseling education process.

763

:

They said the first thing a person

should do is call multiple counselors

764

:

and do an intake interview.

765

:

Because as you say, you, you may

not, you probably not find it on the

766

:

first, you know, do people find it?

767

:

Did you find your dentist

on your first visit?

768

:

You know the I did because it was in

second grade and that's where I had to go.

769

:

Right.

770

:

That was the only option there was, but.

771

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: and you

just brought up a good point.

772

:

It's not just about you liking and

feeling comfortable with a counselor.

773

:

The counselor needs to be

comfortable with you too.

774

:

And if there's something that,

and again, we all have our

775

:

baggage, we all have our trauma.

776

:

If there's something that's in your world

that maybe isn't comfortable for them,

777

:

then it's okay for them to say, Hey,

I'd love to help you, but I really think

778

:

maybe you could try this person instead.

779

:

Great.

780

:

If you don't know where to start,

talk to people in your community or,

781

:

know, talk to people that you know and

just you guys know of any counselors

782

:

I can start talking to or call a

counselor, like you said, just do intake

783

:

interviews and talk to people and see

if it's gonna be a good fit for you.

784

:

They should not charge side note for

785

:

Russell Newton: Exactly.

786

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: just to make

787

:

Russell Newton: Good point.

788

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: But yeah,

I mean, health is really,

789

:

Russell Newton: I.

790

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: and the hierarchy,

depending on your faith, you and

791

:

then your spouse, and then your

kids, and then everything else.

792

:

And on the top of mostly

all of those is you.

793

:

'cause if you're not a healthy you,

you can't be healthy for anybody else.

794

:

You can't be present and, aware

of all the things if you're

795

:

struggling in your own space.

796

:

Russell Newton: I think we've, anybody,

even the casual listener at this

797

:

point, certainly understands that.

798

:

As we said at the top, while your business

model deals mostly with work related

799

:

things, the things that work to fix

problems at work, work to fix problems

800

:

at home, and everywhere else, if there

is someone, and, and here's my segue for

801

:

you to, to make things available as much

as you'd like, if there's a listener.

802

:

That is interested in learning more.

803

:

I know your primary website

is elevate your talent.co.

804

:

so listeners, you can check that

out and see a little bit about,

805

:

some of the things involved there,

but there's also a tab there or a

806

:

button there for one-to-one coaching.

807

:

Jolynn Ledgerwood: Yes, absolutely.

808

:

yeah, elevate your talent.co

809

:

or you can find me on

LinkedIn, Jolyn Ledgerwood.

810

:

I also have a personal coaching

website called Jolyn Ledge.

811

:

Coach, you're more than welcome to

reach out there, and individual time.

812

:

I, you know, I wanna talk about

what's going on in your world.

813

:

I'm gonna ask challenging questions.

814

:

I'll send you some Legos that we can play

with and kind of work through some things.

815

:

There's different methodologies I use.

816

:

Clifton strengths, I think is

phenomenally successful in the

817

:

personal and the professional world.

818

:

So when you explain your work to

me, it's called Clifton Strengths.

819

:

It's the Clifton strengths finder.

820

:

Yeah.

821

:

it's a, yeah, it's a, an,

it's an assessment you take.

822

:

It's not a test, it's just an assessment.

823

:

And the questions are really random.

824

:

It's gonna be like, do you like to walk

your dog or do you like to make lasagna?

825

:

And you're like, these have

nothing to do with each other.

826

:

There's a purpose through it.

827

:

and when we get the results of that

is when I'm really able to talk about

828

:

what drives you, what motivates you

to do the work that you do, and what,

829

:

what are hindrances that you have?

830

:

And I don't wanna say the

opposite of strength is weak.

831

:

And I don't call these weaknesses.

832

:

I call these lesser strengths

because we all have them.

833

:

And sometimes you go.

834

:

and if I have a quick second to give

an example, my number 34, which is

835

:

the bottom of the bottom is empathy.

836

:

I was like, I'm a mom of of

my own kids and two, right.

837

:

It's because I have another.

838

:

Strength that's higher called

individualization and high responsibility.

839

:

So when my little girls were young

and they would trip and fall on

840

:

the sidewalk, my first response was

not the empathetic, oh, I'm sorry.

841

:

Are you okay?

842

:

She up your toe.

843

:

What happened?

844

:

My first response was.

845

:

Well, why did you trip?

846

:

Were you not looking where you're going?

847

:

Is your shoe not tied?

848

:

You know, yes, I can engage my empathy,

but I know that that is an intentional,

849

:

I'm really sorry you're struggling.

850

:

That's gotta be so hard.

851

:

I look at what causes

us to be where we are.

852

:

Yeah, solve the problem first, right?

853

:

So it's different, but we

all have the same strengths.

854

:

It just depends.

855

:

Depends on.

856

:

What order they pop up in.

857

:

just a little stat.

858

:

One in 277,000 people will

have your same top five.

859

:

One in 33 million will

have them in that order.

860

:

that really resonates with

how different we really are.

861

:

So my top five strengths,

there's only 33 million people.

862

:

No, there's one in 33 million people

that have those same strengths.

863

:

It's really rare.

864

:

And they're probably not here in the

United States, so we'll say that.

865

:

but yeah, I just, I take an individual

approach, like, what are you looking for?

866

:

How can I help you?

867

:

How often do you wanna meet?

868

:

There's all types of, ways, and I, you

know, you mentioned it earlier, it's

869

:

not just you as a person and who you

are, it's who you are as a father and

870

:

who you are as a employee or who you

are as a leader or who you are as a dad.

871

:

And how does that show up in.

872

:

The, the things that you do every single

day and how do you want to be better or

873

:

different and how can I help support that?

874

:

So it's, it's a different approach.

875

:

Yeah.

876

:

Myers Briggs.

877

:

Yeah, that's okay.

878

:

Disc, they're all the same.

879

:

Yeah.

880

:

I don't, I'm not one, no, I'm sorry.

881

:

Yeah.

882

:

And not all are gonna resonate

with you versus the other.

883

:

Like there's a lot of people that

like live and die by Myers Briggs

884

:

and it just, it doesn't speak to me.

885

:

Disc is normally like on projects

at work, not holistic person.

886

:

I, yeah.

887

:

Oh, please.

888

:

Yeah.

889

:

Yes,

890

:

absolutely.

891

:

Yeah.

892

:

Well, and that's the, and what

you said is ride their masks.

893

:

So when I do an assessment at work, I'm

thinking, who am I supposed to be here

894

:

and how am I supposed to be that way?

895

:

when I ask people to do strengths in a.

896

:

Mutual environment.

897

:

Don't think about work,

don't think about home.

898

:

Just think about you as a person.

899

:

What makes you happy?

900

:

What drives you, what makes you feel good?

901

:

You know, all those things.

902

:

And the thing about strengths is once

I get those results, I can go, okay,

903

:

now how can we apply these to work?

904

:

How can we apply these to home and

how can we apply these to being a

905

:

dad or being a whatever, and what do

they really mean to you individually?

906

:

Because I find that if someone's reports

high strategic and they're in a leadership

907

:

role, I'm like, great, what a perfect fit.

908

:

That's amazing.

909

:

if I have somebody that's not very

strategic in a leadership role.

910

:

They are, they feel challenged by

that, and I'm like, that's when

911

:

you know your team and you know

what your team's strengths are, and

912

:

you cater to their, their higher

strengths if they're lesser for you.

913

:

For example, I was director of

training at a cybersecurity company.

914

:

I am not strategic at all.

915

:

I'm the woo hoo everybody

love, just have fun.

916

:

Let's you know I'm the

positivity, whatever.

917

:

So I went to my instructional

designer and I said, Hey, we have

918

:

to write a plan for next year.

919

:

What do you think?

920

:

He's like, I'm on it.

921

:

Two days later, he brings this plan.

922

:

It was, we made a few tweaks here and

there, but all in all, it was spot on with

923

:

what we were talking about doing and what

we wanted to accomplish and this and that.

924

:

So two things happened there.

925

:

One, I didn't stress for three days

having to write this thing that I hate and

926

:

don't wanna be a part of and just blah.

927

:

Two, I empowered one of my employees

to do something that makes him feel

928

:

really good and special and wanted

and important and all those things.

929

:

What a win.

930

:

Like why are we forcing now?

931

:

Because I'm not strategic.

932

:

Doesn't mean I can't write reports on

the work that we're doing and assessment.

933

:

You know?

934

:

No, I still have to do my job, but

are there other people that are around

935

:

me in my job that I can work with for

us all to accomplish something better

936

:

and for us all to enjoy our work more?

937

:

Absolutely.

938

:

Why not?

939

:

Like there's no reason why we shouldn't

be doing those things, so yeah.

940

:

It is.

941

:

Yeah.

942

:

Mm-hmm.

943

:

And I crazy.

944

:

My first thought was like,

high school group projects.

945

:

I'm like, they just throw it at

'em and they don't give any help.

946

:

And like you said, the, the,

the teacher leader doesn't coach

947

:

into who should do what pieces.

948

:

So it's normally almost always a complete

mess that somebody, one or two people in

949

:

the group feel like they did all the work.

950

:

The other people feel like they didn't

have a chance to contribute, or just like.

951

:

And I think a lot of that too is when

you say, well, what part do you wanna do?

952

:

I think people are scared.

953

:

To be themselves and say, well, I,

I'm not really good at posters, but I

954

:

really wanna do this research because

doing research looks like totally nerdy.

955

:

Why would anybody wanna do that?

956

:

We need to be able to be ourselves to say,

this is what I wanna do, and to be able to

957

:

speak up and not be criticized for that.

958

:

These are the parts that

I would really like to do.

959

:

I think you would be great at these parts.

960

:

Oh, I'm glad that you said that,

but I really don't wanna do that.

961

:

So, coming to a consensus together

on what does that look like and

962

:

how do we, you know, how do we

all work together to accomplish.

963

:

This when we each wanna

do these different pieces.

964

:

So yeah, you named it right there.

965

:

Yeah.

966

:

Absolutely.

967

:

Mm-hmm.

968

:

Absolutely.

969

:

Yeah.

970

:

Sure.

971

:

Absolutely.

972

:

I think that's how Scrum was probably

in invented, was to, to deal with

973

:

that I, that that was just on a whim.

974

:

But I'm like, that's maybe why Scrum

came along, because nobody knows what

975

:

they're, they're doing and nobody wants

to tell the other people that they're

976

:

struggling or that they need help.

977

:

And like, it kind of goes back

to the whole society views.

978

:

is not cool, but it's okay

to say, Hey, you know what?

979

:

I really need your help here and I

really wanna accomplish this thing,

980

:

and I really could use your help.

981

:

So to humble ourselves

to say that we're human.

982

:

We don't have all the answers,

we can't do all the things.

983

:

It's okay to ask people,

ask other people for help.

984

:

Yeah.

985

:

I do.

986

:

Absolutely.

987

:

Now.

988

:

I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation.

989

:

This is great.

990

:

Mm-hmm.

991

:

So many questions.

992

:

I love it.

993

:

my podcast is called Play for Performance.

994

:

It's where I interview other play

practitioners in the workplace.

995

:

and it's people that bring fun.

996

:

It's people that bring rest.

997

:

It's people that bring all different

types of playfulness into the workplace.

998

:

And I, it's really fun to do.

999

:

I hope you enjoy it as well.

:

00:48:26,778 --> 00:48:29,448

and I am on YouTube, Spotify,

all the different places.

:

00:48:30,348 --> 00:48:32,778

of right now, we have a

limited number released.

:

00:48:32,778 --> 00:48:33,108

I had a.

:

00:48:33,523 --> 00:48:36,163

Unfortunate clog in my schedule

over the last couple of months.

:

00:48:36,163 --> 00:48:39,373

So we are working to get those released

a little bit, a little bit quicker.

:

00:48:39,373 --> 00:48:42,673

And, on a more steady basis, I

do have a newsletter on LinkedIn.

:

00:48:42,673 --> 00:48:44,052

I have not written a book.

:

00:48:44,052 --> 00:48:47,742

I've been told by several people that

I should, so I'm thinking about that.

:

00:48:48,112 --> 00:48:51,383

and articles really, again, that's

really probably more of my LinkedIn

:

00:48:51,383 --> 00:48:52,762

newsletter than anything else.

:

00:48:53,122 --> 00:48:54,923

yeah, absolutely reach out if I can help.

:

00:48:54,923 --> 00:48:56,752

If you need recommendations, if you need.

:

00:48:58,027 --> 00:48:59,407

to other people, just let me know.

:

00:48:59,407 --> 00:49:02,047

And I mean, I, I just,

I love helping people.

:

00:49:02,047 --> 00:49:06,967

If I could just do my coaching work and

not charge people, I'd be okay with that.

:

00:49:07,087 --> 00:49:09,457

But I, I have bills and I have

kids and all those things.

:

00:49:09,457 --> 00:49:13,077

So, yeah, it's, I love what I do

and I'd love to help anybody that,

:

00:49:13,127 --> 00:49:15,467

has been struggling to make that

decision one way or the other.

:

00:49:40,367 --> 00:49:43,337

I don't, I don't, I don't have 10,

but I can give you two or three.

:

00:49:43,417 --> 00:49:45,547

Miller has been a really

great writer for me.

:

00:49:45,647 --> 00:49:46,457

and

:

00:49:49,127 --> 00:49:52,387

obviously, I mean, I listen to Brene

Brown, on, I do most of her books

:

00:49:52,387 --> 00:49:54,637

audible when I'm driving places to place.

:

00:49:55,007 --> 00:49:57,437

Bob Goff has been a

huge inspiration for me.

:

00:49:57,437 --> 00:49:59,747

He is an author, lawyer.

:

00:50:01,906 --> 00:50:06,897

Political, I can't think of his,

he's a, ambassador to a country.

:

00:50:06,897 --> 00:50:08,697

I think it's Uganda, but I'm

not a hundred percent sure.

:

00:50:09,127 --> 00:50:10,387

he's, he's just phenomenal.

:

00:50:10,387 --> 00:50:14,287

He brings play, he wrote a book

called Catching Whimsy, like he's

:

00:50:14,287 --> 00:50:19,437

all about playfulness and some he'll

weave some, faith into his stories.

:

00:50:19,437 --> 00:50:20,547

But he is a great storyteller.

:

00:50:20,547 --> 00:50:23,517

He just brings it on a level

where let's just have fun and

:

00:50:23,517 --> 00:50:24,412

do what we love to do and let's.

:

00:50:25,317 --> 00:50:27,357

You know, he's just been,

he is, he's a great writer.

:

00:50:27,657 --> 00:50:29,727

but yeah, I really am

kind of across the board.

:

00:50:29,745 --> 00:50:33,387

I'm not stuck to one person's way

or another person's methodology.

:

00:50:33,387 --> 00:50:36,897

I kind of just learn a little bit from

all of them and kind of pull 'em together.

:

00:50:36,897 --> 00:50:41,087

So, yeah, I, you know,

I, I, I don't, I love.

:

00:50:41,302 --> 00:50:45,292

It's a physical book, but I don't

have time to sit and read books.

:

00:50:45,292 --> 00:50:47,302

And so I do a lot of them on Audible.

:

00:50:47,302 --> 00:50:50,792

And, that, allows me the

time to think and to process.

:

00:50:50,792 --> 00:50:53,942

And where I'm so into the book,

I'm like, wow, I should have

:

00:50:53,942 --> 00:50:56,012

exited like three times ago.

:

00:50:56,012 --> 00:50:58,292

Like, I should probably

get back on my route.

:

00:50:58,292 --> 00:51:00,522

But, yeah, I love learning more.

:

00:51:00,582 --> 00:51:04,632

I'm, I am a high learner, so, and

that's, that's Clifton strengths talk.

:

00:51:04,912 --> 00:51:07,132

I do love to learn, if I could go be.

:

00:51:07,212 --> 00:51:10,482

Trained in all of the different

methodologies, I would absolutely do it.

:

00:51:10,482 --> 00:51:12,462

I just, I don't have the time, so, yeah.

:

00:51:15,222 --> 00:51:16,122

Yes,

:

00:51:22,662 --> 00:51:23,622

yes.

:

00:51:28,512 --> 00:51:31,032

Yeah, and I'm sorry I

didn't mention Patrick.

:

00:51:31,032 --> 00:51:32,142

That should have been my first one.

:

00:51:32,142 --> 00:51:33,642

I just kind of felt like that was assumed.

:

00:51:33,642 --> 00:51:34,422

I'm so sorry.

:

00:51:47,537 --> 00:51:50,597

The, yeah.

:

00:51:53,027 --> 00:51:53,872

Which one is it?

:

00:51:57,302 --> 00:52:00,107

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's,

yeah, that's Vincent Van Gogh.

:

00:52:00,107 --> 00:52:01,547

Star Night, that's Lego.

:

00:52:02,027 --> 00:52:02,868

And then so is the group.

:

00:52:03,737 --> 00:52:04,817

Those are all Lego pieces.

:

00:52:04,817 --> 00:52:05,207

Yes.

:

00:52:05,237 --> 00:52:08,057

And that was my favorite,

my favorite build of all.

:

00:52:08,307 --> 00:52:10,737

this is the, yes, sir.

:

00:52:10,767 --> 00:52:12,507

That's the great wave.

:

00:52:12,537 --> 00:52:13,827

And then I've got the Milky Way.

:

00:52:13,827 --> 00:52:17,607

My camera won't go all the way over, but

the Milky Way is also all Lego pieces.

:

00:52:17,607 --> 00:52:20,547

But yeah, that's, other than

the books, that's all I have

:

00:52:20,547 --> 00:52:21,597

on my bookshelf or Legos.

:

00:52:21,602 --> 00:52:26,877

'cause I mean, building is so, it's

fun, it's relaxing, it's, can be

:

00:52:26,877 --> 00:52:28,047

very strategic at the same time.

:

00:52:28,047 --> 00:52:28,438

Who knew?

:

00:53:37,407 --> 00:53:38,007

Thank you.

:

00:53:38,287 --> 00:53:46,207

just recently I went on a retreat

to a mountaintop 9,700 feet, and

:

00:53:46,267 --> 00:53:49,927

really got in touch with my inner.

:

00:53:50,782 --> 00:53:53,302

Self, like it was an

eye-opening experience.

:

00:53:53,332 --> 00:53:56,152

I, we would go up on this ridge

and we would do yoga every morning

:

00:53:56,152 --> 00:53:58,132

at 7:00 AM and watch the sunrise.

:

00:53:58,132 --> 00:54:01,582

And it was just, it's, it was a

reminder that we are not here on

:

00:54:01,582 --> 00:54:03,892

the earth, but we are of the earth.

:

00:54:04,282 --> 00:54:06,532

And so every morning I

wake up and I do yoga.

:

00:54:06,532 --> 00:54:07,882

Just kind of a grounding.

:

00:54:08,247 --> 00:54:11,217

Putting my feet on the ground, just

recognizing that I'm here and I'm present.

:

00:54:11,527 --> 00:54:13,987

I work on my breathing if I'm

having struggles during the

:

00:54:13,987 --> 00:54:15,707

day, just kind of recentering.

:

00:54:15,977 --> 00:54:18,467

And then at night, I wish I could

say it's every night, but it's,

:

00:54:18,467 --> 00:54:20,627

most nights I journal about my day.

:

00:54:20,627 --> 00:54:22,847

And that's just like the free

writing that we talked about earlier.

:

00:54:22,855 --> 00:54:24,047

Just what works.

:

00:54:24,077 --> 00:54:25,547

You know, it's not prompts, it's just.

:

00:54:26,022 --> 00:54:29,862

Writing down the things and how I feel

about the things, and that's helped

:

00:54:29,862 --> 00:54:35,202

me tremendously, through my adult

years, both parenting and career wise

:

00:54:35,202 --> 00:54:39,577

to just refocus on, the little things

are gonna happen, but if we can be a.

:

00:54:39,887 --> 00:54:42,677

I don't wanna say bigger, but

if we can work around and rise

:

00:54:42,677 --> 00:54:44,867

above, then we're doing better.

:

00:54:44,927 --> 00:54:47,837

And I see my counselor every

week, so it depends on what

:

00:54:47,837 --> 00:54:48,857

day of the week that happens.

:

00:54:48,857 --> 00:54:52,437

But, like I said, I'm a big advocate

for mental health and, and you know,

:

00:54:52,437 --> 00:54:56,477

if it's not play to get th you through

what you're working through, yeah,

:

00:54:56,477 --> 00:54:59,957

find somebody that can help you 'cause

life's too short to live miserable.

:

00:55:00,942 --> 00:55:04,382

if we can find, just a piece of happiness

and how to grow that within your

:

00:55:04,382 --> 00:55:06,252

space, I think that's very healthy.

:

00:55:06,312 --> 00:55:07,812

And it's been a pleasure

being on your show.

:

00:55:07,812 --> 00:55:08,742

Thank you so much.

:

00:55:08,742 --> 00:55:10,732

I'm, I'm, I really do appreciate it.

:

00:55:10,732 --> 00:55:11,302

It's been awesome.

:

00:55:43,187 --> 00:55:43,502

Thank you.

:

00:55:59,542 --> 00:55:59,962

Bye everybody.

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