Unrelenting

Abena Sankofa is an unrelenting author, founder, and fellow podcaster who hosts Black & Privileged in America. This leader celebrates Africana, challenges historical narratives, and advocates for a just world. Together, we share time on a Tuesday by chatting about reading, writing, podcasting, and building a healthy bookshelf.

After another narrated break, we update the “minority” business owner narrative, discuss ways to leverage resources geared just for you, and explore the perceived religious vibes that are more like the constant governance of cultural interactions within business environments and beyond.

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BONUS MATERIALS

https://AbenaSankofa.com

Omari’s Big Tree and the Mighty Djembe

“Iowa Nice” Interrupted | TEDxDesMoines

Roasted Reflections Break: Bookmarks

http://Unrelenting.YouDontNeedThisPodcast.com

EP33 – Health Equity 🎙️ Corey Dion Lewis

EP59 – Agents of Change 🎙️ Amner Martinez

EP65 – Aromatherapy 🎙️ Kourtney Perry

EP86 – Red Jalapeño 🎙️ Taufeek Shah

http://YouDontNeedThisPodcast.com

Goosebumps

Nic Roth is an author, illustrator, and full-time artist. He is also Ben’s younger brother, so have fun sharing EP60 with a sibling and laugh out loud as we explore what it takes to be a full-time creative. We also talk about book publishing, becoming a muralist, and attending art school, before hearing Bloop from the Roasted Reflections library.

After the break, we invite leaders to always create, while at the same time, welcoming mistakes to brew lasting progress. BEN BOT then helps us compare invested time, versus spending, passing, and wasting time. After a few quick thoughts on being brothers, Nic wraps up EP60 by recognizing that belief in one’s self is contagious, as well as, how opportunities to collaborate awaits all of us, every step of the way.

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BONUS MATERIALS
https://NicRothStudio.com
http://Goosebumps.YouDontNeedThisPodcast.com
Reading Break from Roasted Reflections: Bloop
http://CollectorHardbackEdition.com
http://RoastedReflections.com
http://BENBOT.ai

Become What You Think

We hear the Internet is a big deal. Drew Harden is a web development wayfinder, author, and culture-building leader at Blue Compass. After some rich thoughts on creating significance within a company’s culture, we dive into the world of web development. Ben was in web development for 8 years back in the day, so this was a fun chance to hear how web design and development continues to evolve. Ben and Drew chat about key things for different types of websites. After BEN BOT suggested an average cost to have a web development company create a website, we talk about budgeting for web design projects, but also remember that it’s never one size fits all. Before the break, we run through content creation and the marathon of search engine optimization.

After the break, we double click on SEO (here’s a link to the Blue Compass SEO Guide), but stay plugged in! Drew and Ben shift into a great chat on writing and publishing your first book. Hear Drew share stories from his book writing quest that led to RETAIN: How to Create an Incredible Company Culture that No One Wants to Leave. Ben and Drew then have fun reflecting on narrating your own audiobook. In fact, let’s extend the fun! Use an Audible credit to enjoy Drew’s audiobook here and Ben’s audiobook here. If writing a book keeps you up at night, this is a fun listen. Drew then closes with a neat moment, which inspired the poetic title.

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PolyOmega

Roasted Reflections is a collection
of writings I’ll be proud of forever
and this is the finishing touch…

As I think back, I was never much into reading or writing. I did what was required to play the game of school. Back in 2004, after earning a computer science degree from Loras College and as I started building my career, countless website proposals and client emails had to be where my proficiency with creative writing started to form. This was when the Internet was new, so every business owner began to realize they needed a decent website, even if they didn’t know why. My ability to translate nerd to normal (and normal back to nerd), helped me collaborate with leaders in countless industries. Hearing how people built their companies and helping to compile stories made content creation an indirect, but ongoing element to my early practice.

Writing was also important in my entrepreneurial ventures. It helped me launch The Iowa 3v3 Soccer Challenge and then a global social network for video game enthusiasts. The amount of content I forged into Gathering of Gamers and Tournament Seeker was epic. When I retired from web development after 8 years and  $1M+ in sales, a multimedia marketing move into home building also had me creating a castle of content and with each new side hustle, more words were always required. For instance, I designed everything on FliteBrite, OpenOpen, and Chatty, just to name a few.

I stretch back into the past, because it reveals how writing is fundamental to modern communication. AI and ChatUX is transforming how it’s done, but content creation has enhanced my career in digital marketing and has fueled all of my innovative aspirations. Along with articulating ideas in compelling ways, my writing has been focused on entrepreneurship for a long time. My own creative seasons have been enlightening, but all that I’ve learned from leaders like you, has been monumental in understanding the entrepreneurial lifestyle. Along with career nirvana for myself, I’ve seen how building a business activates an abundance of lasting purpose, shared motivation, and personal growth!

Alright, fast forward to January 1, 2020.

As I started writing my first book by copying the Table of Contents into a blank document, there was never a doubt I could articulate deep understandings into tight spaces. From start to finish, writing You Don’t Need This Book and building Pour Over Publishing to support the publishing process took 1.25 years. Toward the end of this journey, it became clear that BenMcDougal.com needed to be a more prominent place. Thanks to a lifetime of building online, as my personal website came together, I had a stockpile of content. Along with everything on different websites and throughout social media, I had crafted (37,456 words) for YDNTB, which delivered a wonderful well of my very best writing.

Extending my book with a blog was not the original plan. It felt important to make my website shine, but I had never published art on such a rigid timeline. Seth Godin suggests we ship art every day, so while I considered a daily blog, I had to be realistic. Everything I write about are relics for people who mean the world to many, so delivering on a promise was my only option. As I considered how often to publish new articles, feedback kept me grounded and I’m glad I chose to pursue a weekly cadence.

Over time, RoastedReflections.com has become a treasured library. Each writing is a chemical reaction. I thought deeply and challenged myself to write less, but to mean more. The challenge of compressing countless characters also led to many short titles. While my titles may not be obvious for first-time readers, I appreciate the allure of such mystique. Short titles deliver a punch and I’ve enjoyed forcing big ideas into tiny titles.

The organization of this library will continue to pay dividends as well. There are countless links between all 160+ writings. Primary categories kept me focused on timely/evergreen value for the right audience, while topic-based tags were applied for more precise exploration. Thoughtfully associating a unique emoji to each writing was fun as well.

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Listen to WHY I build.

What started as a marketing engine for my first book, soon became a part of my routine. Knowing an email would automatically pull from my blog every Wednesday morning, meant I needed to meet my deadline every week. The occasional glitch had me scrambling once in awhile, but I never missed a week. Such consistency required sacrifice, but significant learning was experienced along the way.

I learned how reading helps us understand the world, while writing helps us understand ourselves. I learned to feel when it was time to find direction. I learned to appreciate the release of articulating something everyone was going to see. As distribution channels grew, I learned how to counter the feelings of self-righteousness. I learned a lot of new words and that it usually took more than one pass to get each writing perfect. I learned the value of indexing my thoughts. I learned how writing helps improve the way we listen and speak. I learned that when we create something we’re proud of, external validation becomes inconsequential. I learned more about how generosity builds trust and what it means to be an author.

There are more takeaways, but it’s clear why I encourage everyone to write. If you’re afraid to write in public, start by journalling in private, but know this has layers of unrealized potential. Writing helps us organize, execute, and release ideas, but it’s not “art” until it connects with those we seek to serve. The best of intentions mean nothing until we ship it.

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“Change is inevitable.
Don’t fall in love with a medium.
Fall in love with the mission.” -Seth Godin

I’ve shipped my art and RoastedReflections.com will live on to nourish leaders who make a ruckus by fueling positive change in our connected era.

This may be the end to an epic streak, but the title of this closing chapter (PolyOmega) reminds us that endings are a beginning to what’s next.

I’ll continue to lead by speaking nationwide, over 5,000 copies of You Don’t Need This Book have been sold, You Don’t Need This Podcast is in full-effect, BEN BOT is online, fellow leaders are collaborating on Discord, community events are happening, and ecosystems are evolving.

Cheers to all who make work look like play and as we each pursue career nirvana, let’s keep building and stay connected in all that we do

Lifelong Learning

Elizabeth Tweedale brings parents and students together by embracing lifelong learning. Since graduating from Loras College, she has (co)authored six books and exited an AI company called GoSpace. This award-winning technologist is now the CEO of Cypher Coders, which is an IRL coding camp for children, as well as, Coco Coders, an online coding school that has taught over 10,000 kids how to code!

It was cool to have this leader in education craft a caffeinated contribution called Playforce and as you’ll hear in this impactful episode, Elizabeth is passionate about family and remains dedicated to transforming how parents think about technology and the future of work. As Elizabeth closes by saying, “do your best, and let them say.”

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