Mike Cerino: Executive Director, Warminster Food Bank

When was the last time you ate? When was the last time you stopped at a Walgreens or CVS to pick up a necessary prescription, or drove to Costco to fill your car up with gas?

Now, when was the last time you had to choose between those things because you couldn't afford to take care of all three?

Mike Cerino is Executive Director of the Warminster Food Bank, located in Warminster, PA. Along with his assistant Melody Latare and other volunteers, Mike sees people forced to make such choices all too often.

Food insecurity can affect anyone at any time, given a sudden illness, job loss, or other challenging circumstances. Yet in the suburbs of large cities, as Warminster is to Philadelphia, food insecurity is unexpected and therefore often hidden in plain sight. The problem is compounded by the shame and embarrassment frequently felt by those in need.

The Warminster Food Bank strives to not only meet their guests' physical needs, but to treat each person with dignity and respect, building community and shared humanity along the way. Mike and Melody note that volunteers often get just as much out of their service to others as those receiving assistance.

Here at Brilliantly Resilient, we recognize the power of service, both to those served as well as those offering their service. We also know the importance of refusing to judge others' circumstances and instead bringing our transferable skills to help in any way possible.

With a budget that's risen by $4000/month since Covid, and at this time of year, the Warminster Food Bank is in greater need of food to serve those in need. Please visit www.warminsterfoodbank.org for a list of current foods needed, and to learn more. Tune in for these additional bits of Brilliance from Mike and Melody:

• I'm tired of people saying others show up in expensive cars to get a basket of food. When the Escalade you're driving becomes your house, it's not that an impressive a car any more.
• People are embarrassed and ashamed. The more we build awareness in the community, the more people will be able to come to us. The stigma of it will disappear.
• There's a hunger for people to be treated with dignity; there's a hunger for people to be treated with respect. That's (also) the hunger that we serve, which is why we call the people we serve our "guests."
• Food isn't a gift or a privilege, it's a right.
• Vision: To reduce or eliminate local food insecurity. Mission: To provide services to those in need in a way that preserves dignity and respect. Passion: to offer an outlet to those who want to help others so they can improve their lives.

Be of service and share your Brilliance. Let's be Brilliantly Resilient together.

XO,

Mary Fran

Anne and David Darling ~ The Farm at Catawissa Creek

How many times a day do you eat? How many times a day do you think about what and when you’re going to eat? (My husband says he can always tell when I’m talking to my mother because we’re talking about food!)

Now, how many times a day do you think about where that food is coming from?

Anne and David Darling, the young farmers who are the “stewards” and owners of The Farm at Catawissa Creek, and this week’s guests on the Brilliantly Resilient podcast, are intent on making others aware of our relationship to food. As young farmers, the Darlings are, sadly, a rare breed. Their passion for growing healthy food and encouraging others to appreciate farms and their place in our society is a welcome and necessary reminder of the importance of farming and the soil that provides our food.

Neither Anne nor David grew up as farmers, but their desire to be of service and answer a higher calling, along with an openness to the opportunities provided by the universe, led them to farming and each other.

Here at Brilliantly Resilient, we LOVE when folks find their Brilliance in service. When you lead with your heart, the best of you follows. The Darlings brought all of their transferable skills to their passion and are truly living a Brilliantly Resilient life. Be sure to check out the events, farm to table meals, workshops, yoga classes and the pure beauty of The Farm at Catawissa Creek.

Tune into the episode here, and be sure to listen for these additional bits of Brilliance:

• We wanted to attune to the highest possible good. What’s the highest good we can provide for not only humans, but the planet? Do something bigger than yourself.

• We are missing a relationship to the soil. Everything comes in a box, everything is packaged. We’re disconnected from soil and from nature.

• You have to think of soil as being alive. It’s a home for our food and so many creatures. We have to respect it.

• We bought our farm from a farmer who spoke to over 5000 people about selling his farm. The farm used to be the crux and central hub of the community.Young people are not going into farming.

Let’s be Brilliantly Resilient together!

XO,

Mary Fran

Cole Aansen

Do you know anyone who is dyslexic? Whether you're aware of it or not, you probably do.

Cole Aansen, a Certified Literacy Intervention Teacher and this week's guest on the Brilliantly Resilient podcast, tells us that statistics show that 20% of the population is dyslexic, regardless of race, socio-economic status or any other measure.

According to Cole, Dyslexia isn't seeing words backwards, a common misconception. Dyslexia is about language processing. Those with dyslexia process the written word differently than those who learn in a more traditional way. Cole further notes, "Dyslexia isn't something you get over. It's a brain processing issue. You can learn strategies to navigate it, but it doesn't go away."

Using the Orton Gillingham approach, Cole uses a multisensory approach to teach others to read. With tools like finger tapping and writing sounds and letters in a sand tray with the fingertips (with 10,000 nerve endings, the tracing letters in the sand can send 10,000 messages to the brain to help learning), the multisensory approach helps to create more pathways in the brain.

Cole is creating materials for the learner unable to utilize a tutor to enable more students and parents to access this multisensory approach. With cards and a video course, Cole helps dyslexic readers to learn to read.

Here at Brilliantly Resilient, we celebrate differences. Yet a skill as basic as literacy is necessary to function in our society. When people like Cole share their passion for helping others master such a necessity, all ships rise.

Please support Cole's work and donate to her Go Fund Me page to help her make her learning materials accessible to all.

Thank you, Cole for sharing your important work!

Let's be Brilliantly Resilient together!

XO,

Mary Fran

~ Princess Castleberry

Does your business have a company wellness plan?

Sometimes words like “wellness” begin to sound like static–annoying and with little meaning. But this week’s guest on the Brilliantly Resilient podcast, Princess Castleberry, knows that ignoring corporate wellness means putting an organization’s people, purpose and profits at risk.

According to Princess, every leader must be a risk manager, and addressing employee wellness with actionable strategies can dramatically improve corporate and personal success. As a wellness and risk management consultant, Princess offers solutions to help leaders view wellness as compliance, inclusion and respect–all elements essential to team building and corporate success.

Here at Brilliantly Resilient, we recognize the value of implementing actionable strategies to reduce stress and improve decision making, professional success and quality of life. Be sure to tune into this week’s episode for more and visit Princess Castleberry at: https://www.princesscastleberry.com/.

Also, check out Princess’ video demonstrating Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) for a simple, easy stress buster: https://youtu.be/Ou4GL_PPjao?si=4GNoJL5M41UglhpV

Listen in for these additional bits of Brilliance from Princess Castleberry:

Wellness can be called by other names–compliance, inclusion, respect. All of those things are put in place so humans can be well.

Leaders can start by asking themselves three questions to begin to navigate wellness for themselves and their teams:

• How do you make decisions?

• How do you manage stress?

• How do you resolve and recognize conflict?

The basic behavior chain is thoughts, feelings and actions. We have to learn to recognize how our triggers work.

People suffer from decision fatigue. You have to trust your gut and divide your decision making into categories:

• Decisions where you can act fast.

• Decisions that must be delegated.

• Decisions that require deliberation–higher stakes decisions.

• Decisions to eliminate–any involving gossip or nonsense.

Let’s be Brilliantly Resilient together!

XO,

Mary Fran

Do you struggle to create written content and social media posts for your business? How would you feel if hou had a program that could write all of your social media, articles and marketing copy with just a few simple prompts from you, allowing you to create enough content to fill an editorial calendar for an entire year?

A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) and its go-to application, ChatGPT, promise just that, with a few key strokes. YAHOOOOO!!! Right?

Not so fast, cautions Dr. Jennifer Gardella in this week's episode of the Brilliantly Resilient podcast.

While A.I. can be a truly productive tool to help with content creation, Dr. Gardella warns that it is artificial, and can impact the trust and authenticity factors essential to the customer/provider relationship. She notes, "What did we learn through Covid? People are dying for genuine connection."

A.I. is computer generated, and by its very nature, inauthentic. Further, Google is now identifying A.I. generated content and flagging it in search results, potentially changing up to 40% of what shows up in a Google search.

There are ways to use A.I. effectively, provided you view it as a starting point and commit to editing the final copy to reflect you and your brand. Thoughtful editing also prevents your copy from resembling or even coming up as a direct copy of others in your market using A.I. exclusively.

Here at Brilliantly Resilient, we're always happy to accept help to share Brilliance. But we're also committed to truth and authenticity--whatever you put out in the world must be real and reflect you and your brand.

Tune in to hear more of Dr. Gardella's strategies for best using A.I. and visit her at: https://thegardellagroup.com/. Be sure to listen for these additional bits of Brilliance:

• There is a need for marketing teams to be cutting edge, so when ChatGPT came on the scene everyone jumped on the bandwagon. It shouldn't be used exclusively. Google has changed their algorithm to identify artificially created content. To eliminate it, it will change 40% of search results.
• ChatGPT is idea creation. Don't use it as your actual content.
• You are the greatest center of your brand as a small business owner. You are your brand and you know your ideal customer. You need to edit artificial content to stay on YOUR brand.
• Regarding Chatbots--If it doesn't work for you in your personal life, why the heck do you think it's going to work for your ideal client? (Everyone hates Chatbots!)

Let's be Brilliantly Resilient together!

XO,

Mary Fran

~ Jonathan Greene, a.k.a. DaVon and Greene

"How you do your time is up to you." Although Jonathan Greene was referencing his time in prison, the statement is profound. Anyone can incorporate the message into a thoughtful approach to living a life--especially if you want to live with truth, committment and determination.

In this week's episode of the Brilliantly Resilient podcast, Jonathan Greene relates the modern-day epic tale of his life as a promising young writer to drug dealer to prison inmate and later to struggling family man turned successful businessman and author. Jonathan's dedication to the values of committment, determination and self-improvement provide a roadmap anyone can follow to live a successful life--even as we define our success for ourselves.

Be sure to tune in to Jonathan's episode on the Brilliantly Resilient podcast to hear more of Jonathan's wisdom, and pick up your copy of his newest book, Paladin: Defender of House Le Fleur, here. Listen for these additional bits of brilliance:

• It's important that if people say they're going to do something, do it. Finish what you say you're going to do....Determination is vital.
• Success is individual. My level of success isn't defined by how many books I sell.
• Sometimes you just have a realization that makes you go, "Nah, I don't want to do that." You have to honor and listen to that instinct.

Learn more about Jonathan a.k.a. DaVon and Greene at https://www.davonandgreene.com/.

Let's be Brilliantly Resilient together!

XO,

Mary Fran

~ Hisham Mohammed

In 2006, at age 8 Hisham Mohammed became paralyzed from the neck down by a bomb that went off just outside of his home in Iraq. In a moment, young Hisham became a victim of a war he never chose to be part of, as shrapnel ripped through his spinal cord, also killing a 12-year-old friend.

After the blast, Hisham's parents, both physicians in Iraq, shifted their entire focus from living and raising their family in a country they loved, to embarking on an around-the-world journey of survival and discovery, trying to save their youngest son. Hisham says, "Never in our wildest dreams did we think something like this would happen and we would we come to live in America"--the very country with which Iraq was at war.

What followed is a young man's extraordinary story of hope and healing, as Hisham committed his life to listening to others, raising awareness about the devastation of war and disability, and turning to education to inform and inspire everyone he meets.

Here at Brilliantly Resilient, we believe in the power of listening. Only by being open to others' views can we hope to understand and find common ground in our shared humanity. As Hisham reminds us, we all need to "be stong, respect others and have faith."

Tune in to hear more of Hisham's brilliance on this episode of the Brilliantly Resilient podcast and pick up your copy of The Deadly Silence here.

Listen for these additional bits of brilliance:

• We have to stop making things so complex. Formal education doesn't have to take place. The key is listening. Active listening.
• Ask questions to learn about other people and cultures. Then listen to their answers.

Let's be Brilliantly Resilient together!

XO,

Mary Fran

Brilliantly Resilient is back!! After some much needed time off, B.R. is back with new episodes, amazing guests, and more inspiration for you to live a Brilliantly Resilient life. Let us know what you think and reach out at howdy@brilliantlyresilient.net. Be sure to check out www.brilliantlyresilient.net for more! And now, on with the show!

~ Dr. Jennifer Gardella

Are you an entrepreneur or just starting a business? Do you have an area of expertise that has value in the business marketplace? Or are you a "professional volunteer" expected to put up your hand every time someone needs something?

It's often difficult to put a value on what we do, particularly if you are just starting a business or do work in an area with societal impact. It's not unusual for people to expect you to give your time or products away for free, or minimal value, especially if you are a woman. (It's hard to believe a man would be asked to give of his time or work for free.) And if you are a known volunteer, it can often feel like your life is up for grabs for anyone who needs anything.

On this week's episode, Dr. Jennifer Gardella shares important insights on how to value your work and your time, starting with learning to value yourself.

Dr. Gardella notes that setting boundaries is the first step in taking back your power--and not everyone is going to like it. When we put up boundaries, those who are used to having us behave in a certain way (read--be available on their terms) won't be happy when told, "No." But a little pain will be worth a lot of gain--for you.

Tune in for a strategy to accomplish your personal power grab (Awareness, education, empowerment and growth), and be sure to listen for these additional bits of brilliance:

• You have to get paid for your expertise.
• You can still do things for free, but you get to choose what and when.
• Awareness and education lead to empowerment and growth.
• Your business and personal lives are very enmeshed. Where are your boundaries? You have the right to say, "This is how I'm spending my time."
• Be ready to acknowledge that things are not working. Dig deep and keep asking "Why?"

Learn more about Dr. Gardella at jennifergardella.com.

Let's be Brilliantly Resilient together!

XO,

Mary Fran