In this episode, Erick Rheam interviews professional speaker and trainer, Traci Cheatham, on the power of the StrengthsFinders test and why it matters in the role it plays in leveraging your strengths.

Traci unpacks the process you go through to understand results obtained from the Gallup StrengthsFinder test and discusses how to use it to live within your authentic space and why it matters.

She explains how the StrengthsFinder customized report is so unique that the odds of anyone else having similar results is 1 in 33,000,000.  She encourages people to focus on their top 10 - 12 strengths, out of the 34 overall strengths, and turn that into their “super lane highway” and not focus on their bottom strengths. 

Traci discusses Erick’s StrengthsFinder results on this episode and demonstrates how he can leverage his results within his life.  She shows how to layer the themes of StrengthsFinder to unpack Erick’s story and personality in a way that he can manage it for good and turn it into a positive experience.

Traci Cheatham

Traci is an authentic, inspiring, influential, people-oriented leader. She is a Certified Gallup StrengthsFinder Coach and GiANT leadership consultant.

Traci is passionate about maximizing the potential in others and has 20 years experience developing strong leaders and teams. She is devoted to inspiring and equipping others to become better versions of themselves and learn to lead with love.

Resources Mentioned

  1. Subscribe to the podcast
  2. Rise Above Chaos book
  3. Work with Erick
  4. B23 Strategies website
  5. Gallup StrengthsFinder website
  6. Contact Traci Cheatham at traci@b23strategies.com and mention the Rise Above Chaos podcast to get a discount code to take the StrengthsFinder test
  7. StrengthsFinder 2.0 book.
  8. Episode 16 - Leverage the Power of the Enneagram

Action Step

In this episode, Erick Rheam shares his experience going on his quarterly retreat to a small bed and breakfast and what he learned from the process.

It’s critically important to take strategic pauses in your life so that you may rest, reflect and evolve to stay on track towards significance.  Life is messy and exhausting at times, and without a mechanism to protect against the chaos of your life, then burnout and regret will be your constant companion.

Erick discusses the four reasons why everyone should consider a personal quarterly retreat.  He shares four best practices and the outline he follows to ensure a successful retreat.

Resources Mentioned

  1. Subscribe to the podcast
  2. Rise Above Chaos book
  3. Work with Erick
  4. Full Focus Planner
  5. Grant Street Inn
  6. Entrepreneurial Operating System

Action Step

In this episode, Erick Rheam discusses the importance of resetting your mindset and how he recently just went through a 75 day process to reset his mindset and what he learned from the experience.

We are a collection of our habits.  Good or bad, our habits dictate our future.  In other words, we reap what we sow in the form of daily habits.

In this episode, Erick unpacks the program he followed to challenge his habitual self and how he was able to reset his mindset as he approached his 50th birthday and what he learned along the way.

For 75 days Erick focused on the following daily habits to see what transformational benefits he gained as s result:

  1. Drink a gallon of water
  2. Participate in two, 45 minute workouts with one of them being outdoors
  3. Follow a diet
  4. No alcohol or cheat meals
  5. Read 30 minutes of a non-fiction
  6. Take a progress picture

Erick discusses the specific diet and workout plan he followed, what he experienced, and what he learned over the 75 day process.

Resources Mentioned

  1. Subscribe to the podcast
  2. Rise Above Chaos book
  3. Work with Erick
  4. The 75 Hard Program
  5. Gallon Water Bottle
  6. FastBlast

Action Step

In this episode, Erick Rheam interviews Mark Leruste, professional speaker, author, and podcaster about his brand-new book, Glow in the Dark – How Sharing Your Personal Story Can Transform Your Business and Change Your Life.

Mark explains how he came up with the title of his book, Glow in the Dark, from a happenstance conversation and the long journey he took to get the book written and ultimately published. 

Mark unpacks a dark period he experienced in 2009 after a bad breakup with his girlfriend, quitting his job, and dealing with his grandfather’s illness and the transformation he experienced as he battled depression.

He discusses the core message of his book that we are not alone and why our story matters and how to leverage our stories free of shame.

Mark discusses the importance of authenticity but also clarifying boundaries on when and how we share our stories.  He explains his point leveraging Oprah Winfrey as a great example.  He specifically mentions how Oprah was able to use her deepest wounds to conjure up the greatest healing.

He talks about the formula he discovered that we could mimic that allows us to explore our own stories to find our authentic self and be seen in the world.

He learned that when people are willing to talk about their low points and to own who they are, it is critical to get on a positive path.  He walks us through the four types of stories:  Open wound stories, broken record stories, entertaining stories, impact driven stories.  He believes impact driven stories are the ones we should all strive for, because they allow us to influence and impact others by leveraging our stories.

Mark unpacks the steps to own your story and make an impact with three simple steps:

Step 1 – Context – Take me somewhere.

Step 2 – Content – Tell me something.

Step 3 – Conclusion – Teach me something.

At the end of the podcast Mark humors me by answering some silly British questions about his thoughts on the Royal family.

Mark Leruste

Mark Leruste (@markleruste) is the CEO and Founder of Ministry of Purpose©, best-selling author of “Glow in the Dark” (Hachette UK), keynote speaker, proud dyslexic thinker and the award-winning host of The Unconventionalists© podcast.

A sought-after speaker at industry conferences and Fortune 500 companies, including the Premier League, NHS, L’Oreal, Google, Method & Ecover, Adobe, HEC Paris and Oxford Business School, Mark’s TEDx talk has been watched over a million times (making it the most viewed TEDxCardiff talk of all time) and his work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Guardian and Metro. 

Mark previously served as Country Manager at the Movember Foundation, where he helped raise €2.8 million for men’s health, inspiring 110,000 fundraisers to sign up, winning multiple awards along the way. 

His first book “It’s Not You, It’s Me” (Sifi Publishing) is a modus operandi for unfulfilled professionals looking to find more meaningful, entrepreneurial and fulfilling work. 

His new book “Glow in the Dark: How Sharing Your Personal Story Can Transform Your Business and Change Your Life” (Hachette UK) – recently shortlisted for a Business Book Award - is a must read for every entrepreneur and business leader who wants to raise their profile and turn their personal story into a powerful asset that gets noticed.

Mark believes in creating a future worth striving for. That’s why he’s an advisor and early-stage angel investor in purpose-driven startups including Oddbox, Circa5000, Brewdog, Coconut, ScoreApp, Frahm, Farewill and This.

To get in touch with Mark visit MarkLeruste.com or to buy his bestselling book “Glow in the Dark” go to www.glowinthedarkbook.com 

Resources Mentioned

  1. Subscribe to the podcast
  2. Rise Above Chaos book
  3. Work with Erick
  4. Mark’s new book, Glow in the Dark
  5. Mark’s Website
  6. The Unconventionalists Podcast
  7. Erick’s episode on Mark’s podcast

Action Step

In this episode, Erick Rheam interviews fashion designer and podcaster Roberto Revilla on how he embraced a rough childhood and embraced his experiences to find his calling and create a massively successful bespoke tailoring business.

Roberto discusses his experience growing up in the heart of downtown London in the 80’s and what it was like growing up in an entrepreneur household and how it impacted his views on life. He discusses how his father taught him the value of work ethic early in life and although he hated it, it influenced his own journey to ultimately launching and owning a business.

Roberto shares his experience of breaking away from the family business and his struggle with finding work and the vocation that best fit his talents and passion. He shares an interesting story about how McDonald’s refused to hire him because the manager wanted him to pursue something greater.

Roberto discusses how he began to uncover his passion for helping people after he was laid off from his first full time job.  He was offered a job to help the elderly or tailoring suits.  He chose the tailoring gig and that launched him into the tailoring and fashion world.  After seven years in the tailoring business, he decided to partner with a few others to start a boutique shop.  He parted ways with that group after two years and launched his own business.

Roberto shares that his journey was always based on helping others.  He discovered that clothing breeds confidence and so he wanted to help others gain confidence by clothing them.

Once he aligned his passion to serve others with his superpower to intuitively understanding people, he was finally able to land on his ultimate vocation of fashion and tailoring for men.

Roberto talks about the more successful he is in business and life, the more resistance he experiences from the Beast and that’s simply a sign that he’s on the right track.

Finally, Roberto humors me by answering my silly British questions and shares some fashion tips for men.

Roberto Revilla

Roberto Revilla is a London-based bespoke tailor, menswear designer and owner of Roberto Revilla London Suit & Shirtmakers.

He is also the host of the Tailoring Talk Podcast.

He works with clients to help them be their very best through the clothing he creates for them.

Dubbed “the Rock N Roll Tailor" by the UK’s ShortList Magazine, he loves taking care of people and helping them find their confidence in the clothing they wear.

Resources Mentioned

  1. Subscribe to the podcast
  2. Rise Above Chaos book
  3. Work with Erick
  4. Roberto’s Podcast/Blog
  5. Roberto’s Website
  6. The War of Art book by Stephen Pressfield

Action Step

In this episode, Erick Rheam interviews professional speaker, author and podcaster Daron Earlewine about how to discover your calling.

Daron explains why his mission is to be a pioneer and once found his mission he discovered peace and happiness in his life.  He provides a glimpse into what he believes are the five foundational callings that are based on biblical teachings.

He believes that suffering and struggling provide the greatest lessons in life and that was his experience in his own story.  He walks us through his life in a band in Arizona and his transition into ministry along the way.

Daron believes that most people have a massive deprivation of imagination and discusses how personally experienced it and how he overcame it.  He discussed how he changed his mindset when he began to study an idea of being a “pioneer apostle”.

He talks about the push and pull we all experience as we reach inflection points in life and how he experienced that personally when he decided to lean into ministry. He also discusses two big moments he experienced as he decided to leave the church he founded and how it influenced his decision.  He opens up about how he was forced from the church he founded and why he believes it was meant to be and needed to pursue his true calling.

Daron outlines a critical letter that he decided to write to the elders of his church, which outlined his vision of his future and why writing out his vision was a pivotal moment in his pursuit of his calling. 

Finally, Daron poses the four questions to ask yourself to find your calling.

Daron Earlewine

Daron Earlewine is a passionate, catalytic, influential, and captivating dreamer. He serves as an author, speaker, podcast host, and entrepreneur. Daron’s mission is to help people find passion, purpose, and peace. 

In 2016, he started Radio Theology, a weekly radio show on WZPL, 99.5 in Indianapolis. Then the Daron Earlewine Podcast was launched to share stories of diverse people living out their calling.

Daron has also helped more than 4,000 individuals move from feeling insignificant to understanding their worth and creating their future through his online and live workshop. Most recently Daron has written a book called The Death of a Dream. 

Daron’s favorite role has been being married to Julie for 21 years and being Cole, Ty and Knox’s dad.

Resources Mentioned

  1. Subscribe to the podcast
  2. Rise Above Chaos book
  3. Work with Erick
  4. The Death of a Dream - Daron's Book
  5. DaronEarlewine.com
  6. The Death of a Dream Podcast
  7. Spiritual DNA Online Course

Action Step

In this episode, Erick Rheam interviews professional speaker, podcaster, and founder of The Speaker Lab, Mr. Grant Baldwin on why he thinks it’s important to seek out mentors in key areas of your life.

Grant discusses how he felt when he decided to make a fundamental shift in his life in 2006 and pursue a career in public speaking.  He unpacks how he transitioned into professional speaking and what it was like to earn his first $1,000 for a speaking gig.

Grant talks about the deliberate choice you must make to intentionally rise above the chaos.  He’s also a master of surrounding himself with the right people so he can realize success.  One of the first people that helped him was his dad when he gave Grant a loan to start his business.  It’s a beautiful story about how a father supports his son.

He also talks about the entrepreneur life is really making it up as you go and having the courage to keep moving forward.  One way to mitigate that is to realize that most successful entrepreneurs are making up as they go as well!

Grant talks about his pivotal decision to pick up and move his family away from his hometown in Missouri to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue his speaking dreams.  He walks us through his mindset and how he justified such a big move.

He discusses the power of a mastermind group that he leverages to help him navigate major decisions in his life and why it matters so much to him.  He shares his thoughts on bringing in people to help him address specific areas in his life from business, health, marriage, and finances.

He tracks key metrics to ensure he’s intentional with relationships like how many date nights he has with his wife, how much time he spends with his daughters, how much time he wastes on his phone, and is he engaging with his primary mastermind group daily.

Grant Baldwin

As founder and CEO of The Speaker Lab, Grant Baldwin has helped thousands of people build successful and sustainable speaking businesses.  Over the last 15 years, Grant has become a sought-after speaker, podcaster, author, and accomplished entrepreneur.

Featured on the Inc. 5000 list, Forbes, Inc. Entrepreneur, and TheHuffington Post, he has committed his expertise and insight to equip others to share their meaningful message with the masses.

His leadership and dedication to creating a one-of-a-kind organizational culture are evidenced by the impact of the team he leads.

Grant lives near Nashville, Tennessee with his wife, Sheila, and their three daughters.

Resources Mentioned

  1. Subscribe to the podcast
  2. Rise Above Chaos book
  3. Work with Erick
  4. The Speaker Lab
  5. The Speaker Lab Podcast

Action Step

In this episode, Erick Rheam interviews professional speaker and podcaster, Ravi Rajani, on what it takes to gain the courage to make big moves in your life.

Ravi takes us on a journey on when he got started into sales and how he transitioned into the premier teacher on the art of leveraging storytelling into success in life.  He talks about the “gold medal” effect and how he did everything right to get into corporate sales only to be disappointed when he realized the reality of corporate sales didn’t align with his perception of it.

Ravi discusses how his mom taught him the concept of “soul contracts” and why it’s important to look at opportunities as providential and lean into them.  He’s passionate about being expressive with your passions and learning to leverage them as part of your spiritual journey.

He believes most fail to make big moves because they miss the signals that life gives us when it’s time for a change.  He got to the point where the pain of staying where he was in his corporate life far outweighed the risk of moving on, so it was the pain that gave him the courage to start making big moves.

In the end, it was a series of decisions in his career that was not linear, but gave him the momentum toward his calling.  Once he went all in on his own thing and stopped juggling multiple things at the same time, was the moment he finally found his ultimate success.

Finally, Ravi lays out what a meaningful life looks like to him.

Ravi Rajani

Ravi Rajani helps B2B sales teams build trust, create a connection with their prospects and sell more by mastering the art of story.

From being enrolled in dance school as a kid, stumbling into theatre as a teen, and delivering hundreds of pitches and presentations during his time in Investment Banking & Sales Leadership, Ravi is here to help you craft stories that sell and deliver presentations that convert.

Resources Mentioned

  1. Subscribe to the podcast
  2. Rise Above Chaos book
  3. Work with Erick
  4. TheRaviRajani.com 
  5. The Influential Communicator podcast
  6. Ravi’s LinkedIn profile

Action Step

In this episode, Erick Rheam interviews professional speaker and trainer, Janelle DeWolf, on the power of the Enneagram and why it matters.

The Enneagram is a great self awareness test and guides you to your “why?”.  It gives you a glimpse into your motivations into why you do the things you do. This tool is the first step to get you out of  your autopilot mode and begin to discover a deeper meaning into your life purpose.

Janelle DeWolf

Janelle is an insightful, aware, resourceful, passionate encourager. She is a Certified Enneagram Coach and is passionate about helping people live into their gifts and talents with greater self-awareness. 

Janelle combines entrepreneurial and corporate experience to help leaders increase their influence and drive employee engagement, performance and overall well being. 

Janelle is co-owner of B23 Strategies - a leadership development firm - that partners with forward thinking companies that understand that people are their greatest asset. 

Janelle's greatest inspiration comes from her family of 3 grown children and husband of 25 years, as they continue to be her best teachers of life's priorities and blessings.

Resources Mentioned

  1. Subscribe to the podcast
  2. Rise Above Chaos book
  3. Work with Erick
  4. B23 Strategies website
  5. The Road Back to You - Book by Ian Morgan Cron
  6. The Journey Toward Wholeness - Book by Suzanne Stabile

Contact Janelle DeWolf at janelle@b23strategies.com and mention the Rise Above Chaos podcast and she will provide you an email based assessment for $25.00.

Action Step

In this episode, Erick Rheam, shares his experience going on his annual retreat on a sleeper car train from Indianapolis, Indiana to Seattle Washington.

It’s critically important to take strategic pauses in your life so that you may rest, reflect and evolve to stay on track towards significance.  Life is messy and exhausting at times, and without a mechanism to protect against the chaos of your life, then burnout and regret will be your constant companion.

Erick discusses his personal experience fresh off his latest retreat where he rode an Amtrak sleeper car train across seven states and passed three time zones before he ultimately found himself in downtown Seattle where he stayed an extra two days before flying home to complete his journey. 

Erick unpacks what he learned and shares his recommendations if you decide to duplicate his journey for your own personal retreat.

Resources Mentioned

  1. Subscribe to the podcast
  2. Rise Above Chaos book
  3. Work with Erick
  4. Full Focus Journal
  5. Full Focus Planner
  6. Amtrak Train
  7. Remarkable 2 Tablet

Action Step

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