My guest for Episode #254 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is Gina Mundy, author of the book A Parent's Guide to a Safer Childbirth: Expecting the Best: Using the Power of Knowledge to Help You Deliver a Healthy Baby.

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Gina is an attorney who specializes in childbirth cases. Throughout her career, Gina has traveled nationwide, engaging with healthcare professionals such as doctors, nurses, and midwives to explore all aspects of labor and delivery. Meeting with experts from various states, she has explored and analyzed the myriad of issues that can arise during labor and delivery, impacting both mother and baby. v

Gina lives in Clarkston, Michigan, with her family (husband, kids, and dogs)… and she enjoys visiting wineries. Me too (the wineries part)!

Join us as we embark on Gina Mundy's transformative journey from a legal expert in childbirth cases to a successful author. We explore how challenging circumstances, often derived from personal experiences, inspire noble feats like authorship, turning potential mistakes into powerful preventive guidance. Gina's book serves as an incredible testament to her efforts to help expecting parents bypass potential risks and navigate childbirth with ease.

Dive into a discussion touching upon critical topics such as recognizing the signs of distress or complications early, understanding the impact of medications like Pitocin in childbirth, and the implications of labor after water breaks. Our guests underline the importance of being forewarned and forearmed, thereby uplifting childbirth experiences with informed decisions.

And we'll hear about Gina's favorite mistake from her legal career, and decisions she made as a working mother -- how much does she regret those decisions today?

• Now 10 years later… was that a mistake??
• What were the adjustments?
• What led to writing the book — and first learning about problems and mistakes that occur during childbirth??
• What's the difference between naturally occurring bad outcomes vs. mistakes? Is that always clear?
• What are the most common problems that occur during childbirth?
• Does time of day matter? 5 pm Friday??? July?
• And how can people help prevent mistakes?
• Who gets sued, the resident or the attending??
• How often does info from the legal case help drive improvement and prevention?

My guest for Episode #253 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is Julian Reeve, former Musical Director for the musical Hamilton and CEO of Perfect Equilibrium, Inc., a firm that provides consulting services related to employee burnout and retention.

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Julian graduated with honors from Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, England, before embarking on a highly successful career as a musician, educator, and entrepreneur.

He performed for millions across six continents around the world as a Music Director, winning The Los Angeles Drama Critic Circle Award for Best Music Direction on the Broadway musical Hamilton before leading it’s first presentations at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (DC) and at the Centro de Bellas Artes Luis A. Ferrè in Puerto Rico (with Lin Manuel Miranda).

Julian has built four thriving companies in the creative sector, including the London-based boutique talent agency Boland & Reeve Ltd (now Collective Agents) and Perfect Equilibrium Inc. in Los Angeles.

In this episode, Julian talks about his “favorite mistake,” a turning point that occurred early on in his career that challenged his understanding of leadership. This not only shaped his communication skills but also transformed his perspective on perfectionism. With fascinating real-life experiences, he explains the crucial role of self-awareness, the power of accepting and utilizing feedback, and the impact of approach and attitude on leadership and personal development.

• What's your favorite mistake?
• Was that authority-based approach modeled to you by teachers?
• Did you learn to ask for feedback?
• Should we cut you some slack since you were young?? Learning from those mistakes — and getting other chances?
• How do perfectionists tend to respond to feedback?
• What led you to leave your work in the music industry??
• The ways perfectionism is helpful?
• Does it help to reframe standards of excellence and expectations?
• Was there ever a mistake-free performance of Hamilton?
• Why does Perfectionism lead to not just burnout and depression?
• Self-compassion — Kristen Neff Episode 183
• Tell us about your company – and how you help individuals and organizations
• Julian's TEDx talk

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My guest for Episode #252 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is Russell K. Jack. He’s a retired US Senior Federal Air Marshal, working in that role from 2002 to 2022. Russell previously served five years as a Federal Police Officer. And previously served five years in the Colorado Army National Guard and was deployed in Saudi Arabia (Desert Storm).

He is also a first-time author — his book is titled, Is MAGA a Terrorist Movement?— available now. He hopes this book will promote critical thinking about protecting our democracy and just how precariously close we are to losing it forever. He writes this book out of a sense of duty to the American people.

In today's episode, Russell shares his favorite mistake story from his time working as a security officer for a major health system. Why did a Black man think he was being racially profiled by Russell? And what did Russell learn about that interaction?

We also dive into important topics from his book — the lessons learned and the implications for 2024 and beyond.

• Did you get to share that lesson with others in law enforcement?
• How often do you think racial profiling does occur?
• What’s the definition of “terrorist”?
• Death threats are an example of terrorism?
• Fascist? What does that mean and what’s the implication if MAGA wins in 2024?
• It’s a mistake that we don’t have a clear definition of “Insurrectionist”?
• Who is the audience for the book? The already convinced, or the convincible?? Your hope for the book?
• You write you’ve never convinced anybody to stop being MAGA. Do you expect this book to help?
• Do you run across people who now think it was a mistake to previously support or vote for Trump?
• Does MAGA think they made mistakes in early 2021 that they wouldn’t make again in early 2029??
• If Trump were to die tomorrow, what happens to MAGA movement?