The Life Lessons Collective

Want to meet a true renaissance woman? Well, you've come to the right place. In this episode of the Life Lessons Collective, multi-talented visionary Amy Kardel shares her life lesson about embracing change as the normal state of things. Drawing on personal experiences, Amy discusses the challenges and rewards of navigating change, whether it's a career shift, adapting to new technologies, or facing unexpected life circumstances. She emphasizes the importance of being open to change, taking initiative in learning new skills, and supporting others through their own transformations. The conversation also touches on the need to reshape the media portrayal of the tech industry and highlights Amy's exciting venture of co-writing a screenplay that portrays the positive aspects of working in tech. Overall, the episode encourages listeners to view change as an opportunity for growth and to approach it with optimism and resilience.

Join us on an interesting life and career journey with Andrew Dawson, a seasoned strategist with a diverse background in various advertising agencies and consultancies. Dawson shares insights from his career, including the importance of finding and cultivating mentors, and the challenges of navigating corporate culture during rapid career advancement. He discusses how his experiences inform his approach to mentoring his children and his podcast, "60 Second Democracy," which educates listeners on the actual roles of government officials. Dawson highlights the importance of understanding these roles beyond party lines and emphasizes the need for effective governance at the local level.

We're so lucky to have the immensely talented author and painter, Clifford Thompson, on the pod. Check out our conversation as Cliff reflects on his creative journey from his early fascination with misunderstood male characters, like Charlie Brown, Holden Caulfield and Benjamin Braddock, up to the publication of his two most recent books, What It Is: Race, Family, and One Thinking Black Man's Blues (2019) and the graphic novel Big Man and the Little Men (2022)
Thompson's journey underscores the importance of staying connected to childhood passions and embracing one's core self. He emphasizes the value of pursuing what brings personal fulfillment, even if it diverges from societal expectations. Through his experiences as a writer, editor, and artist, Thompson exemplifies the resilience and creativity found in honoring one's early interests throughout life's journey.
For more infomation on Thompson, check out his website: www.cliffordthompson.info

In this episode, Michael talks with Barbara Paluszkiewicz, CEO of CDN Technologies in Ontario. Barb shares her journey from her formative years, where, with English as her second language, she was relied upon to translate sometimes difficult transactional situations for her Polish-speaking grandmother, to now leading a successful tech company in Canada. Barb emphasizes the importance of clear communication, learned from her early experiences, which now helps her bridge the gap between technical jargon and client understanding. Through empathy and effective communication, she ensures clients grasp critical concepts in the rapidly evolving IT landscape, preventing costly cyber incidents and fostering trust. All this...and a dose of Archie Bunker and Fred Sanford too. Come join us; you’ll be glad you did.

In this captivating podcast episode, we're joined by the remarkable Marty Devlin, author of "Ol' Buddy Marty." At 91 years young, Marty defies stereotypes, having overcome a childhood marked by doubts about his potential. From high school championships in diving, baseball, and football to leading his American Legion baseball team to victory in the Legion World Series, Marty's athletic prowess knew no bounds. His journey continued with eight seasons in the Brooklyn Dodger organization and a surprising pivot to tennis, where he became the US's #1 ranked player by age 45, securing world championships on three surfaces. His success in sports fueled his desire to excel in other realms and has led to a lifetime of outstanding academic, business and life achievements, fueled by a steadfast commitment to core principles that he developed through his experiences, using them to overcome the early limitations that were projected onto him by others. Don't miss out on the wisdom and adventures recounted by this extraordinary individual. Click here to buy Marty's book Ol' Buddy Marty. To learn more about Marty, visit his website.
The making of this episode included a shocking and scary incident, which is recounted in the intro.