Welcome to Episode 9 of Forging Fortune, an inspirational podcast for visionaries, activists, and future-focused entrepreneurs anywhere between the poles on the life experience spectrum.Today we welcome the amazing and wealth of knowledge that is DJ Nicholson, Founder and CEO at Inclusiveology. Our conversation today is centered around inclusive education and how to much sure there are space, resources, and support for all students to truly succeed. DJ’s vast education experience and true commitment to a better, more just, and more inclusive world made this conversation one to remember. A special thank you to DJ for her knowledge, expertise, and work in the inclusive education space. Meet DJDJ is an educator, instructional trainer and speaker with a life-long passion for integrating children with varying abilities into generalized education. Throughout the course of her career, she has supported students, teachers and school leadership in inclusive practices to create equity and achievement for every child whatever their disability.  After 26 years in public education, she retired early to progress her life's mission to include every child in learning as the Founder and Director of Inclusiveology, an educational program that fully supports inclusive practices.  Inclusiveology was developed to ensure that every child has access to the tools they need to be successful, and members of the school community understand "how" and "why" (not just "what") supports and strategies are necessary to make inclusive practices successful. Connect with DJ:Website: InclusiveologyBlog: Inclusiveology BlogInstagram: InclusiveologyFacebook: InclusiveologyLinkedIn: DJ Nicholson, InclusiveologyListen and follow the podcast on all major platforms:Apple PodcastsSpotifyStitcherand more!

Welcome to Episode 8 of Forging Fortune, an inspirational podcast for visionaries, activists, and future-focused entrepreneurs anywhere between the poles on the life experience spectrum.Recently I made the decision to make an investment in myself. Now that the date draws near, I am struggling to make peace with this decision. And it’s not because I don’t think I deserve it but after a series of unfortunate events where I trusted perceived mastery more than my intuition, I’m just a little less confident about making financial decisions. I’m sure you’ve been there too.Actually, I know you’ve been there. The things you go through in life, especially those you haven’t had a chance to reconcile, are the things that make you vulnerable both in your personal and business life.Marketing and sales gurus aren’t the least bit shy about exploiting “pain points.” They pour countless hours and dollars into understanding those experiences so they can speak to those pains in a compelling way. Even if the source of your pain is completely unrelated to their product, they know your experiences transfer to other aspects of your life and tap into that aggressively. In the gap between our pain and your insecurity, is where our worst financial decisions are made. And that’s exactly where most of the “most successful” try to wedge their message.So, what can you do? How can you secure yourself without becoming jaded? Get in there! That gap, the space between your pain and your insecurity, is also the space where you can achieve the most growth, the kind of growth that can evolve into transformation if you approach it with courage, curiosity, and integrity. In the same year that I accumulated excuses for self-doubt, I attracted even more proof that I can trust myself to pivot and correct quickly even when I make mistakes. And really, that’s going to take me further than never making mistakes at all. Don’t you think? If you have been activated by this podcast, please tell me about your experience at [email protected] and follow the podcast on all major platforms:Apple PodcastsSpotifyStitcherand more!

Welcome to Episode 7 of Forging Fortune, an inspirational podcast for visionaries, activists, and future-focused entrepreneurs anywhere between the poles on the life experience spectrum.I am so excited to engage with Nina Everflow in a timely and important dialogue around the decolonization of Wellness and Collaboration. Our conversation was so rich with intellect and personal experience. I can guarantee you’ll want to listen to it at least twice. A special thank you to Nina for her time and continuous honoring of the spaces that she holds in addition to the work she brings to the world.Meet Nina Nina Everflow is a life-long activist of joyous rebellion. Her passion for personal transformation guides her unique approach to developing and delivering learning environments inclusive of diverse people, places, and platforms.Her content design agency, Everflow Consulting, helps purpose-driven business leaders and online educators develop clear, compelling, and results-oriented content through an inclusive lens. Serving industry disruptors around the world, Everflow Consulting’s course content and development offerings explore new applications of diversity in methodology, power, and voice for holistic growth, online.A plant lover, musical theater enthusiast, and seeker of the softest vegan cookie, Nina lives on the unceded land of the Monacan (MON-ACAN), now known as the farmlands of south-central Virginia, U.S., with her multi-racial family. Connect with Nina:Website: Nina EverflowTwitter: EverflowNinaInstagram: Nina.Everflow Listen and follow the podcast on all major platforms:Apple PodcastsSpotifyStitcherand more!

Welcome to Episode 6 of Forging Fortune, an inspirational podcast for visionaries, activists, and future-focused entrepreneurs anywhere between the poles on the life experience spectrum.I have a question for you: What Kind of World Could We Live In If We Focus On Change for 2000 Days? This is the truth: a dedicated community, an actionable plan, and a clear, meaningful timeframe, is all we need to change everything. We have worked so hard for change. Visionaries, activists, for-purpose and justice entrepreneurs: We have tried everything! We’ve tried organizing. We’ve tried protesting. We’ve tried supporting candidates for political office and even being politicians ourselves. We’ve been teachers, we’ve been ministers, we’ve been shouting our commitments to change everywhere from podium, to rooftop, to picket line. We’ve begun to wonder if change is even possible, if hope is warranted. I’m here to tell you, it is. Change is not only possible, it is inevitable and together, we can direct what happens, when it happens, and how it serves us. The greatest minds in science predict that we still need another 100 years to reach our potential as an energy-neutral civilization. Climate Change says we have to do it in 20 so I have created the 2000 Days Project to change our current world as we know it and it starts with one question: “What statistic am I trying to change?” In 2000 days, the world will look completely different. Will you be joining me? For more information on the 2000 Days Project please visit www.2kdaysproject.com. I would love to have you as a Co-Creator or Steward. Still have questions? I am only an email away at [email protected]. Listen and follow the podcast on all major platforms:Apple PodcastsSpotifyStitcherand more!

Welcome to Episode 5 of Forging Fortune, an inspirational podcast for visionaries, activists, and future-focused entrepreneurs anywhere between the poles on the life experience spectrum.In today’s episode, I am truly honored to welcome and speak with Rev. Leela Sinha, creator of Intensives Institute. Join us as we explore Leela’s life’s work around Intensives and Expansives and how they lead, interact, and co-create in the world. A special thank you to Leela for zir contribution and time with us.Meet LeelaLeela Sinha is a speaker, writer, consultant, podcaster, but mostly a visionary who can't shut up.  Ze is also an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister who works from a theology of pleasure. Ze believes that we all have an obligation to help save the world, and we don't have to be idealists or nonprofits to do it.  What we need is power--but we need to use it well. Ze is also the host of the podcast PowerPivot which can be found on all listening platforms.Connect with Leela:Website: The Intensives InstituteTwitter: LeelaSinhaThe Podcast: PowerPivot Listen and follow the podcast on all major platforms:Apple PodcastsSpotifyStitcherand more!

Welcome to Episode 4 of Forging Fortune, an inspirational podcast for visionaries, activists, and future-focused entrepreneurs anywhere between the poles on the life experience spectrum.Remember Flik, the ant protagonist in the movie A Bug’s Life? I’m still a little embarrassed by how deeply I identify with him - the awkward outcast inventor who really wanted to make life easier for everyone, but couldn’t. Just the way he bumps up gracelessly against the boundaries of the system he and his fellow ants are trapped in invalidates his inventions. So of course neither they nor he, can find acceptance, much less appreciation. In the movie, Flik created a new tool to make it faster and easier to harvest grain so they can meet the quota of the grasshopper rulers. Flik’s invention causes a big problem when it knocks over the pile of grain collected for the grasshoppers and they have to start all over and meet the quota or be wiped out. Flik starts coming up with ideas and is immediately shut down by the Queen because as far as she is concerned, his ideas are what got them in trouble to begin with. Meanwhile, the grasshoppers are partying in their summer spot with more than enough of everything - pure luxury. Most of them don’t want to leave, but the leader makes it clear that they must return and gather their grain. But why? The lead grasshopper says “You let one ant stand up to us, then they all might stand up! Those puny little ants outnumber us a hundred to one and if they ever figure that out there goes our way of life! It's not about food, it's about keeping those ants in line” Powerful. At least it can be. But how? How can we make the numbers, the power, relevant especially when we’re trying to create change?In the last episode, we explored what it means to make change from inside the system. The reality is you can’t. You can’t change the world or even any minute aspect of the way things are today from inside the systems responsible for making it and keeping it the way it is. So then, how do we make real social change? That is what today’s episode is all about.I invite you to reach out to me via email at [email protected]. I want to hear from you. To get updates on episodes, tools, and events, visit www.forgingfortune.com to join the email community. And, if you have been inspired by the podcast, please share it with someone you know. This is more than a podcast - it’s a movement. ResourcesContract As Promise by Dr. Charles FriedListen and follow the podcast on all major platforms:Apple PodcastsSpotifyStitcherand more!

Welcome to Episode 3 of Forging Fortune, an inspirational podcast for visionaries, activists, and future-focused entrepreneurs anywhere between the poles on the life experience spectrum.I will never forget the moment I gave up on “order.” I am, unfortunately, no stranger to traumatizing experiences. I grew up unwanted, abused, despised by my own family. I sustained myself on faith in the American Dream. I really believed that working hard, staying out of trouble, and getting a good education would lead to happiness, fulfillment, prosperity. I believed it and lived it with all my heart. So, when I did break away from poverty - when I got that Big Ten degree, bought the house of my dreams, built my business up to provide a six-figure income, the first thing I wanted to do was jam a wedge in the slamming door of opportunity so others had a chance to get through. So, I volunteered to run for office. They immediately fell in love with the power of my story. Headlines read “From Homeless to House: High School DropOut Turned Successful Entrepreneur Seeks Office to Preserve the American Dream.” And they loved the response. They even loved my slogan: “Nobody left behind.” Until they realized I was serious. When the campaign ended, I was disappointed, exhausted, and really feeling desperate. Back on the sidelines, I kept fighting for what I believed in - nobody left behind. We either move forward together or stay desperate together. And, no matter what I said, what evidence I presented, what ideas or opportunities I exposed, the consensus never changed - some social and humanitarian issues were expendable…even if they didn’t need to be. But I kept trying and fighting until one day the quiet part was spoken out loud. “You’d have a lot of power here if you’d just calm down.” That’s when I realized that those of us with hearts and minds for change aren’t being called to the table to share in shaping the future. We’re being called to the table because we - and the change we champion - are on the menu. And that is where we are starting today. Talking about what it means to be called to the proverbial table. This could get messy.I invite you to reach out to me via email at [email protected]. I want to hear from you. To get updates on episodes, tools, and events, visit www.forgingfortune.com to join the email community. And, if you have been inspired by the podcast, please share it with someone you know. This is more than a podcast - it’s a movement. Listen and follow the podcast on all major platforms:Apple PodcastsSpotifyStitcherand more!

Welcome to Episode 2 of Forging Fortune, an inspirational podcast for visionaries, activists, and future-focused entrepreneurs anywhere between the poles on the life experience spectrum.I have never been so consistently sympathetic with a character as I’ve been with Jack Skellington. Have you seen Tim Burton’s, The Nightmare Before Christmas? Jack, the undead hero of Halloween Town, becomes tired of living in his Zone of Excellence (as author Gay Hendricks would describe it) and begins to search for something more. He finds Christmas Town, gathers countless artifacts, and hauls them home to share with his people and study. Unsatisfied with their lukewarm reception, Jack locks himself in his tower laboratory to study his artifacts, shunning sleep, food, and helplessly chanting, “what does it mean, what does it mean?!”As visionaries, seekers, people who strive for meaning and purpose, we’ve all been guilty of blinding ourselves with exhaustion in our desire to understand, “what does it mean.” And, when it comes to making change, when it comes to your life’s purpose at a time like this, I have good news and bad news. The good news is, fulfilling your calling feels good. Why does it matter? Because you matter, because the whole, full you is the best you. The good news is, you get to fulfill your potential and fully express yourself because it’s good for you.The bad news is when it comes to why it matters to everyone else when you wonder if anything you do is going to have the effect you hope for, the bad news is, you don’t get to know. Creating change means materializing the unknown. And, in most cases, you don’t get to know how impactful your work will be. And that’s ok! Because while impact, while change is the hope, it doesn’t have to be the only goal. Joy is a form of activism. Rest is a form of activism. Wholeness, integrity, being are all forms of activism worthy in their own right. So when the trouble of the bad news begins to weigh too heavily, refer to the good news: mastering your potential, fulfilling your purpose, challenging the “impossible” matters because it’s you, it’s who you are, and you matter.You’ll have no trouble gathering proof of impact as you follow your callings and touch the lives of others through your work. And, I will tell you this - when you let your being be enough of a reason to live life to its fullest, something else amazing happens. Distractions start to fade away. The need for validation begins to wane, and that makes you less vulnerable to misdirection. It makes you stronger, more capable, more likely to succeed against all odds. This episode is packed with personal insights and realizations so I encourage you to go back and listen as many times as you need - it’s a tool for you. I also invite you to reach out to me via email at [email protected]. I want to hear from you. To get updates on episodes, tools, and events, visit www.forgingfortune.com to join the email community. And, if you have been inspired by the podcast, please share it with someone you know. This is more than a podcast - it’s a movement. Listen and follow the podcast on all major platforms:Apple PodcastsSpotifyStitcherand more!

Welcome to the Circle…This is the very first episode of Forging Fortune. To say that I’m glad you’re here would be quite an understatement. Elated, is more like it. Because I know that you’re not just here, you were drawn here - that you have an incredible role to fulfill in this pivotal time, that you can feel it, and that gives me hope.Tune into this first episode as I share about my home, my family, my recurring dream, and my bigger why. I have created this podcast to be a source of activation. When I think of you listening to this now, I think of Spock, Kirk, and Scotty watching you through a portal saying, “There it is, the moment that changed history.”And so, in this circle, we fan the flames of our passion and desire until they glow hot enough to melt our intangible dreams into their manageable components - so that we may easily make them a reality. From one episode, you will learn how to master and wield your fears, so that you can overcome the objections of the present and create the regenerative systems of the not-at-all distant future. You are the answer we seek. You have the power and the responsibility to hone your intentions to co-create with destiny. You will learn how to forge your fortune - our fortune - in every sense of the word. This is just the beginning.To get updates on episodes, tools, and events, visit www.forgingfortune.com to join the email community. And, if you have been inspired by the podcast, please share it with someone you know. This is more than a podcast - it’s a movement. Listen and follow the podcast on all major platforms:Apple PodcastsSpotifyStitcherand more!

Welcome to Forging Fortune. I'm your initiator, Mina Raver, visionary, activist, entrepreneur, and I am on a mission to activate and inspire people like you, people who have the power to change the world right now. I invite you to join the circle. In the circle, we fan the flames of our passions and desires until they flow hot enough to melt our dreams into manageable, achievable components. We wield the hammer of our fears by the handle of their meaning. As co-creators with destiny, please join me and expert guests specializing in everything from science to spirits as we explore the universe in search of reflections of ourselves to gain a deeper understanding of who we are, how we work, and what we are truly capable of.You have what it takes. Let me show you.