In Other Words

Kukuwa Fitness – Move your Boombsey

Dance is the newest fitness trend, but you've never seen one like this!  Kukuwa Fitness with Move Your Boombsie (yes, it's exactly what you think it is) burns 1,000 an hour!  Yes!  And more than that, anyone can do it.  Whatever your age  or your fitness level, If yo move easily or you have troubel moving, if you have tricky knees or back problems, whatever.  You can do this.  And love it!

Henry, the RoboTherapy Cat

This is the story of Henry, a being committed to helping the sick, bringing joy to the loney, and engaging those with alzheimer's or other forms of dementia so they can communicate.  Henry is a therapy cat, and we've known for a logn time that therapy animals can work wonders for those with any kind of emotional or mental challenge.  Henry is quite willing to sit comfortably in the patient's lap, letting her stroke him, talk to him.  If you stroke him enough, he'll roll over onto this back os you can rub his belly.  If you stop stroking him, he's likely to meow.

The twist here is, Henry's not real!  He's a robot.  From a distance, you could mistake him for real, and he has the weight of a real cat as he sits in your lap. These animals were created to help those who have trouble engaging with the outside world.  In many ways, Henry is as effective as any live therapy pet, but you never have to feed him or clean his litter box.  And no vet bills!  Listen to Henry's story, as told my Heather Kennedy, the Director of Community Life at Glen Meadows Retirement in Glen Arm, MD, a part of the greater Baltimore area.  Listen to his story.

The Eric Energy Show – Cool, Fun Science for Kids!

What kid could resist the chance to make their own slime?  Or their fog.  Or laser light show.  Or…  Eric Krupkin, aka Eric Energy, introduces the WOW factor of science for kids.  They get to see how science is a part of their everyday lives.  Like what moves the trees?  Or how to you make a bubbling potion straight out of Hogwarts?  Listen to get a glimpse of how he gets the kids to go, "WOW!"

Baltimore's Own Otterbeins Cookies: In Its 5th Generation!

Most family owned and run businesses don't make it past the 3rd generation, but Otterbein's Cookies is thriving and Generation 5 is getting ready to take over.  These are a holiday tradition in Baltimore.  Otterbeins makes cookies using the original recipes they broughtover from Germany and it's still selling like crazy.  They started out as a full bakery, selling everything your average bakery sells.  But then grocery stores started selling them and the corner bakery just couldn't compete. 

So, how did Otterbeins survive?  And how has their business lasted so long?  What are their small business secrets?  And just how good are these cookies, anyway?

Anne Taintor: Irreverant Takes on Motherhood and Social Conventions

If you've ever been in an airport news stand, kitchen store, or anyplace that sells magnets, you've seen Anne's work.  She cut ads out of old women's magazines and attached captions that you can really see those picture postcard perfect women thinking behind the painted-on smiles, shirtwaists, and pearls.  She's more high-tech now, but it's the same idea.  She started at craft fairs with wooden pins and thought magnets were the stupidest idea in the world!  She's an empire now, still poking fun at domestic stereotypes.

Aaron Young – Why You HAVE to Incorporate, Even if You're Not a Business Owner

The tax benefits of incorporation are much more extensive than you have any idea.  In fact, corporations are one of the secrets of how the rich get richer.  And just about anyone can do it!  And for business owners, incorporation protects the owner by separating her from her business.  But you have to do it exactly right, which is almost impossible to do on your own. 

Aaron Young is CEO of Laughlin USA, which forms corporate entities for just about any business – incorporation, sure, but also LLC and other things.  To be 100% compliant – and nothing less will keep the corporate veil in place to protect the owner – is really, really complicated and, as Aaron tells us, almost schizophrenic!  This is a very important show if you are a small business owner.  And it's fun, too.

The Father of UGGs, Brian Smith

Brian's the man behind UGGs, the sheepskin footwear phenomenon.  And you have no idea how amazing resource sheepskin really is!  It keeps your feet really warm in the winter, sure, but it also keeps them cool in the summer!  Put 'em on soaking wet feet and they'll be dry in minutes, it's incredibly durable.  It won't even tear.*  Know how to clean them?  Well, Brian takes his in the shower with him.

Brian also talks about some of his other businesses and his book, You Can't Give Birth to Adults.  It's about the growth stages of a business.  You're gonna love this podcast!

*All this true of genuine sheepskin, the original UGGs.  Knock-offs are not usually real sheepskin.  Not all UGGs are now, either.

Creating a Book, Cover to Cover, Inside and Out

Adina Ferguson, Ian Anderson, and Tyler Mendelsohn are recent grads from University of Baltimore's Creative and Publishing MFA program talk about the experience of not just writing, but doing every part of the process except the printing.  Their thesis was a book.  They wrote it, designed both sides of both covers, how the pages would look, what paper or stock to use, even marketed them.  Now they can look at that book and say, "I did this!"  They talk about that process and give us some great marketing tips. 

The Best Fun/Weird Holiday Music Ever!

Happy Holidays!  Every year at this time I play a show of really off-beat holiday music.  I had intended to re-record it this year since I have better audio software now, but my microphone had different ideas.  Still, this show is a lot of fun.  The first one is the a capella group Straight No Chaser's The 12 Days of Christmas.  If you haven't heard it, ya gotta.  There are other songs from that same group, but lots of others as well.  Manheim Steamroller is one, and there's a Hawaiian version.  That one may only be funny to me, though, since I lived there and get all the references, but it's an interesting twist on a song that really needs interesting twists.  Enjoy!

America's Integrity Expert, Dr. David Gruder

Integrity is not just about keeping your word.  There is integrity within yourself, as well as within your relationships, both personal and community-wide.  Dr. David Gruder is "America's Integrity Expert."  He is a clinical & organizational psychologist who brings the best of psychology to business, the best of entrepreneurship to professionals, and the best of both to social change & governance.

An award-winning author and highly sought-after speaker, David coaches corporations and individuals the collaborations skills required to create sustainable productivity, profitability & job satisfaction.  Simply put, if you  want a work environment where everyone - top to bottom - enjoys their work and feels fulfilled personally and professionally, talk to David.  Happy employees ultimately leads to growth.