KPHRED Work - Life Balance Radio

Michele Rempel, Karen McNamara - California Pulse

What does it take to bring a historic building back to life?

On this episode of The California Pulse, Michele Rempel talks with Karen McNamara about the effort to restore the Atascadero Printery. Once a major printing operation, the building was damaged in the 2003 earthquake and sat neglected for years. Karen and a small group of supporters are working to turn it into a community space for arts, education, performances, and gatherings.

Karen shares the personal story behind her commitment to the project, the progress made so far, and her hopes for what the Printery can become for Atascadero.

Learn more about the project or find out how to help: https://atascaderoprintery.org

Mary Farias & Dr. Diana James
Economy Creators

What if you stopped waiting for someone to give you the next opportunity—and started creating your own path?

In this episode of Economy Creators, Mary Reiss Farias sits down with Dr. Diana James, an executive leader turned entrepreneur, author, speaker, consultant and advocate for women in leadership.

After more than 30 years in executive leadership, Diana reached a pivotal moment when she expressed interest in moving into a presidency position—and was told those positions were reserved for men.

She left corporate America.

And started building something different.

At 47, Diana returned to college. At 58, she earned her PhD. She eventually launched The Secret Stairs, turning her decades of experience, research, knowledge and passion into an entire economy that now includes public speaking, corporate consulting, a book, coaching, a radio show, technology, and an upcoming anthology.

In other words, she became an Economy Creator.

In this conversation, Mary and Diana explore:

• Reinventing yourself at any age
• Making the leap from corporate leadership to entrepreneurship
• Overcoming imposter syndrome and changing your self-image
• Diana’s research into women advancing into senior leadership
• Why mentorship and sponsorship are different
• The importance of visibility and opportunity
• Creating your own position instead of waiting for one to appear
• Turning expertise into books, speaking, consulting and other assets
• Building an ecosystem around a central mission
• Having the courage to finally answer a calling you've carried for years

One of Diana’s most powerful findings can be summarized in three words:

Access over advice.

Diana explains the distinction this way:

A mentor talks to you. A sponsor talks about you.

A sponsor is advocating for you in rooms you aren't in, creating access, increasing visibility, and opening doors.

That idea connects powerfully with something we talk about frequently inside Economy Creators: we need other people talking about us.

Relationships, introductions, media, books, collaborations and visibility can all help put us into rooms we couldn't enter alone.

Diana also shares how she repeatedly created her own opportunities during her corporate career: identifying a problem, developing the solution, and positioning herself to implement it.

That's Economy Creator thinking—whether you're operating inside a corporation or building your own business.

Today, Diana is expanding that mission again through an anthology featuring women who left corporate careers and created new paths through entrepreneurship.

Her closing advice?

Walk past the ladder. Look for the secret stairs.

Your path may look more like a jungle gym than a ladder.

You may move sideways. You may move down. You may reinvent yourself completely.

But you can keep building.

🎙️ LISTEN TO ECONOMY CREATORS
https://kphred.com/playing-on-kphred/economy-creators-build-your-you-shaped-economy/

📚 CONNECT WITH DR. DIANA JAMES
https://www.secretstairs.com/

📘 THE SECRET STAIRS: Avoiding the Broken Corporate Ladder, An Alternative Path for Women in Leadership
https://a.co/d/0dH20czX

Continue Your Economy Creator Journey on Substack: https://economycreators.substack.com/

Join the Economy Creators Workshop

Discover where you are in your journey to Lead Yourself → Lead Your Economy → Lead Others, and identify your next steps toward building a YOU-shaped economy.

https://www.magnetminddevelopment.com/economy

Download The Economy Creators Framework

Learn how to build an economy around your unique interests, talents, experiences, and purpose.

https://www.economycreators.live/ec-framework-ebook

Take the Economy Creators Diagnostic Quiz

Identify the opportunities, strengths, and gaps in your personal economy.

https://www.economycreators.live/quiz

About Economy Creators™

Economy Creators™ is a podcast and radio show featuring entrepreneurs, authors, coaches, leaders, and visionari

Navigating Identity: Anna's Journey Through Adoption

A heartfelt exploration of belonging and acceptance in adoption.

In this episode, Janet Munro sits down with Anna Jinja, who shares her profound journey of being adopted from Korea into a Norwegian-American family. Through a candid conversation, Anna reflects on the complexities and challenges of her identity, revealing the emotions tied to her adoption.

The Early Years
Anna recalls being adopted in 1972 and the early moments of her life in a family that looked different from her. She humorously notes how she realized she was adopted simply by looking at family photos—"which one was not like the other? That would be me." Despite her parents' best intentions to openly discuss her adoption, Anna struggled with her identity, often feeling like an outsider.

"I just wanted to know that I belonged and that was never questioned. And it always felt like from the moment I could understand that my belonging in that family was always questioned."

The Weight of Questions
As Anna grew up, the questions surrounding her adoption became a source of resentment. While her parents celebrated her adoption with ceremonies, Anna felt spotlighted and different, leading her to reject discussions about her background.

"I just wanted to not talk about it, which wasn't easy because people were always interested."

The Struggle with Acceptance
Anna’s journey through school was riddled with challenges as she navigated her cultural identity. In a diverse neighborhood, she often felt out of place, especially during moments like citizenship celebrations that set her apart from her peers. The societal expectations and pressures placed on adoptees added layers of complexity to her feelings of belonging.

"For a 15-year-old, that is something that just generates a lot of resentment..."

The Complexity of Adoption
Throughout the conversation, Anna emphasizes the misconception that adoption is an instant solution to belonging. Instead, she highlights the ongoing emotional journey that many adoptees face.

"They think of adoption as the end event... and that's just not the case because that's not how human life is either."

Anna shares how she eventually embraced her name and her story, turning her journey into a platform that advocates for understanding adoption and foster care.

Reflection
Anna’s story is a poignant reminder of the layers of identity and belonging that come with adoption. Her experiences showcase the importance of open dialogue and understanding in fostering a sense of belonging, not just in adoptive families but in all relationships.

For more of Anna's insights and to hear her full story, tune into the episode. It’s a heartfelt exploration that sheds light on the realities of adoption and the search for identity.

Mei Liu,, Dr. Jengyu Lai - Healing Steps to Wellness

Mei & Dr J at the Navajo Nation Nutrition Summit recorded this three-part audio collection presents an integrated vision of holistic health, cultural heritage, and community empowerment across the Navajo reservation.

The narrative spans field healthcare, traditional food traditions, mental wellness, and physical action:

Dorothy Chee TB Educator, Indian Health Service establishes the geographic and public health context, describing healthcare delivery across the Four Corners region while highlighting native food traditions such as harvesting fresh produce and cooking blue corn meal with juniper ash.

April James Department of Behavior & Mental Health Program, Navajo Nation advances the nutritional focus by offering personal testimony on how adopting a plant-based diet enhances mental health, mood stability, and physical recovery.

Dorothea Sullivan Diabetes Education Prevention Educator, Navajo Nation links nutrition with active living through her "Movement is Medicine" initiative, detailing how dance fitness, community walks, and personal connection can combat diabetes and help cultivate the Navajo Nation into a thriving Blue Zone.

Together, these recordings demonstrate how combining ancestral knowledge, plant-based nutrition, and active movement fosters community-wide healing and resilience.

Learn more at https://healingstepstowellness.com

Join the Lotus Health Online community: https://lotushealthfoundation.org/lotus-community

Valorie Smith, Dr. Mosongo Moukwa, Ron Nussbaum - The Distinguished Entrepreneur Podcast:

What happens when the life you planned is no longer an option?

In this episode of the Distinguished Entrepreneur Podcast, Dr. Mosongo Moukwa and Valorie Smith sit down with Ron Nussbaum—U.S. Marine veteran, entrepreneur, author, host of the Construction Champions podcast, and co-founder of Ask a Shop Owner.

Ron shares how he went from BMX racing and basketball dreams to serving as an infantry Marine, including deployment to Iraq. After leaving the military without a clear next path, he took a chance on a Craigslist construction job—even though he had no construction experience—and found the mission, camaraderie, and opportunity he had been searching for.

The conversation goes far beyond construction. Ron breaks down a leadership truth every entrepreneur needs to hear:

You cannot scale past unresolved problems—you only scale them bigger.

He explains how hiring struggles, weak training, unclear expectations, and culture breakdowns often trace back to ownership and management. Rather than blaming employees or applying temporary fixes, leaders must examine the root cause, check their ego, and build systems that allow people to succeed.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

How Ron transitioned from the Marines into entrepreneurship and construction

Why construction can offer extraordinary opportunity for people willing to show up and learn

The mindset shift from chasing material success to building a peaceful, meaningful life

Why the real source of many “employee problems” starts with leadership

How to identify root causes instead of putting band-aids on business issues

Why hiring faster will not solve a broken culture or unclear systems

The leadership question Ron uses in difficult meetings: “Is the problem in this room?”

How Ask a Shop Owner uses real-world business-operator insights to help small-business owners build actionable plans

Ron also shares the vision behind Ask a Shop Owner, an AI-powered platform designed to give entrepreneurs, skilled-trades professionals, and shop owners practical, on-demand guidance when they face real business challenges. The platform is built around insights gathered from thousands of business owners, entrepreneurs, and operators—not simply generic internet answers.

If you are building a company, leading a team, hiring employees, navigating a career change, or trying to create a life that feels successful on your own terms, this conversation is for you.

Connect with Ron Nussbaum on LinkedIn, and explore his work with Ask a Shop Owner and Construction Champions