Choose Positive Living with Sara Troy and her guest Shelley Brown, on air from June 15th
Elon Musk, Lady Gaga, Andy Warhol, Sir Richard Branson have all been described as “weird”, but that’s exactly what propelled them to their success. Our “weird” doesn’t know it’s weird until it’s judged by others. And when that happens, many of us spend years, even decades wearing that judgment every day like an itchy wool sweater. What happens if we shift our thinking and begin embracing our weirdness? Shelley will invite your audience to allow their own “weird” and join what she affectionately calls the “the collective weirdness of humaning”. She will offer advice on:
How people can allow their “weird” in a way that generates personal and professional growth.
How to mitigate the “bullshould,” the space between where we are and where we think we should be.
Five ways organizations can benefit from embracing inclusivity through individuality and weirdness.
Shelley Brown is a speaker, mindfulness educator, mentor, artist and author best known as the creator of Weird Girl, a series of humorous essays written about real life experiences. Born and raised in Chicago, she graduated from DePaul University and served over 25 years in corporate America.
In 2014, Brown faced her greatest challenge when she suffered a serious spinal injury. After a lifetime of fitness that included 25 marathons, six ultra-marathons, and countless half-marathons, she found herself living with impaired mobility and chronic pain. Now living life with gratitude and joy, Brown provides organizations with keynote talks and customized mindfulness seminars aimed at humanizing work cultures, cultivating self-aware leaders, and of course, allowing our “weird.”
Weird Girl Adventures from A-Z is a funny, zany collection of life experiences as told through the eyes of Weird Girl, the alter ego of brilliant writer Shelley Brown, as she navigates her way through angsting, loving, and real life experiences along with her 45-year old sock monkey, her boyfriend who happens to be her dog, and a really nice guy who comes home after work and really doesn’t get Weird Girl, but loves her anyway.
Raising Our Gifted Children with Sara Troy and her guest Susan Landers MD, on air form June 15th
Neonatologist Susan Landers, MD, author of the new memoir So Many Babies: My Life Balancing a Busy Medical Career & Motherhood, will discuss the traumatic life and death choices many parents face when their sick or premature baby needs the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). In the United States nearly half a million babies are born preterm (before 37-weeks of pregnancy), have an illness, low birth weight (under 5.5 pounds), a multiple (twin/triplet), a major congenital malformation, or other critical care scenarios when admitted to the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). Many of these children receive care and recover with the help of neonatologists and other specialists, and eventually leave the unit as healthy, thriving babies. However, for other babies who are extremely premature or those with an inoperable birth defect, there are traumatic and stressful times for parents – especially the moms – who are confronted with life and death choices for their babies.
In So Many Babies, Neonatologist Susan Landers, MD, shares the stories of the close relationships that NICU staff and parents develop during some of the most distressing times of their sick child(ren)’s lives. In addition, Dr. Landers’ memoir describes how the practice of neonatology shaped and influenced her life experience (So Many Babies: My Life Balancing A Busy Medical Career & Motherhood; publication date: May 4, 2021.
As a neonatologist for over thirty-five years and a mother to three of her own children, Dr. Landers describes how the full-time practice of neonatology influenced her experience as a mother. As a neonatologist, she survived and thrived during a lengthy NICU practice, and she relates her experiences of finding resilience and endurance, managing to postpone burnout until late in her career. The book describes many technological changes that she witnessed over decades in neonatal medicine and high-risk obstetrics, such as infertility treatments and multiple births. Also, her experience in the NICU is illustrated by many poignant life-and-death scenarios, including stories about complex, critically ill patients, and their worried parents, each one touching her life.
Choose Positive Living with Sara Troy and her guest Annemarie Shrouder, on air from June 15th
Being Brown in a Black and White world. Her passion is Diversity and Inclusion and she is out to tackle Racism and Bias in the business world as well as socially.
Now more than ever Diversity and Inclusion play a pivotal role in healing our world. It is finally time to stand up, revisit the structures of the past, and dismantle any systems still in place causing separation and oppression so we can live in a Free, Equitable, and Thriving world.
Annemarie has spent more than 20 years in the field of Diversity and Inclusion as an international speaker, facilitator, and consultant. She has guided thousands of clients using her leading-edge method to create inclusive environments. As a biracial queer woman, Annemarie’s warm approach and transparency soothe participants, creating opportunities to put down their defenses and open lines of authentic communication. She is a master at creating belonging and safety in business environments, and the communities we care about.
“We have to change the paradigm. I can be a person of colour and have value. You don’t have to strip me of my colour to help me rise in your regard.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. didn’t have a dream that suggested we not see colour in order to see the con- tent of character. Colour blindness implies judgment. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have to make a point to not notice my skin. And not seeing colour can’t be the only way you see my value. I believe Dr. King was asking us to lean into both/and.”
“Turning in and away from results in “us and them” thinking, which leaves little to no room for building connection, creating opportunities for dialogue, to hear and be heard, or to really see the other and be seen. “
“Because we focus on either/or. And in an either/or world, someone has to win, and someone has to lose.”
“When we hold both/and, we have an entry point for a possibility, an acknowledgment, a conversation, without the weight of having to choose a side.”
“The goal of a both/and space is to move us away from polarization toward greater connection, seeing more, and ultimately, greater belonging—and change.”
“It’s when environments are inclusive, and employees feel a sense of belonging and systemic barriers are removed that companies reap the true benefits of di- verse representation. “
Sara’s View of Life with Sara Troy, on air from June 8th
Setting some new priorities and putting things in perspective. We look at our life and see that something has become more important to us and now how do we set new priorities. We know we have to pivot but do not want to walk away from what we have built, so we look for a way to include all of it by rescheduling and manage our time.
With my new Grandson, I am at that stage, I want to see him more, be more of his life and help my daughter and her husband, so how do I manage it all? This is my journey now, and one I need to find a balance to include it all.
Are your strings being pulled each way, are you feeling pulled in different direction and wanting to include everything in? We can do it all it just needs management.
“for the LOVE of Music” with Sara Troy and her guest Krisanthi Pappas, on air from June 8th.
ACCLAIMED SINGER/SONGWRITER KRISANTHI PAPPAS BRINGS US HER COVID RECOVERY ANTHEM – “HUG A MILLION TIMES” SOUND AND STYLE. Singer/Songwriter, Krisanthi Pappas, has been compared to Norah Jones and Diana Krall by JazzTimes Magazine and to Karen Carpenter and Carole King by All Music Guide. Her jazz songwriting style has been compared to Randy Newman by Cadence Magazine, while her pop songwriting has been compared to Carole King by All Music Guide. As well as her vocal gentleness, she has the husky-voiced passion of Bonnie Raitt and the swinging playfulness of Ella Fitzgerald.
PERFORMING Based in the Boston area, Krisanthi is a full-time entertainer playing an average of 200 performances a year at theaters, concert venues, singer-songwriter series, festivals, resorts, clubs, and private events throughout New England and New York City. She has also performed throughout the U.S., Caribbean, and parts of Europe. As a retro pop singer, she has performed pre-shows for Sheryl Crow, Heart, Queen with Adam Lambert, The Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, The B-52s, Chicago, and REO Speedwagon. As a jazz singer, she has opened for Branford Marsalis, Chuck Mangione, The Yellowjackets, Manhattan Transfer’s Cheryl Bentyne, Kevin Mahogany, Gary B and Makoto Ozone. Krisanthi has been the musical director and/or a performer for many prestigious events such as Governor Deval Patrick’s Inaugural Celebration as well as benefits including the Sister Friends For Life Concert for the Faulkner Hospital Breast Center in Boston, making Strides Against Breast Cancer, The Relay For Life, and others. Krisanthi also plays piano and drums on some of her songs as well as writing her band’s musical arrangements. She is fortunate to have spent many winters performing solo in The Caribbean.
Since COVID, Krisanthi has been performing a popular weekly virtual piano bar concert on her station Krisanthi5 on YouTube Live.
Hug a Million Times
TV, FILM, and RADIO You can hear Krisanthi’s voice and/or her original music and lyrics on recent and past episodes of “Parenthood” (NBC), “The Mindy Project” (FOX), “Once Upon A Time” (ABC), “One Life To Live” (ABC), “Containment” (CW), “Passions” (NBC), “Californication” (Showtime), “Younger” (TVLand) and “The Lair” (HereTV). Her music and/or singing in films include “I Dream Too Much”, “Happygram”, “Green River” and “Tying The Not”. Krisanthi’s music is played on radio stations and programs throughout the Boston area and several states nationwide and in Canada. Krisanthi’s songs recently surpassed three million spins on Pandora Radio and her music is also played on Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play, Sirius XM, Amazon Music, and other digital radio.
SONGWRITING AWARDS As an ASCAP songwriter and publisher, Krisanthi is a past 2nd place Winner of the prestigious Billboard® World Song Contest and The Next Holiday Classic Song Contest for her song “You and Me by the Christmas Tree” as well as having been the 3rd place Billboard® winner for her song “One Slow Dance A Day”. She also tied for 1st place in NYC’s Cabaret Hotline Members’ Choice Songwriters’ Favorite Song Award for her song “My Back Yard” and was an Honor Award winner in the 10th Annual Great American Song Contest for her song “You and Me by the Christmas Tree”. She has continued to receive songwriting awards from the ASCAP Popular Music Awards Panel every year since 1999 for her music and lyrics in jazz, cabaret and pop. Krisanthi’s songs are also performed live in her own concerts as well as by many other cabaret and jazz performers in New York City, Boston and Washington DC. RECORDINGS Krisanthi’s most recent CD “Krisanthi sings Carole, Carly and Karen” is a great mix of retro soft rock favorites. Her CD “And The Sun Will Shine” showcases some of her best songwriting, including her frequently requested song “The Voice”. Her CD “Broadway Favorites …and All That Jazz!” is a live recording of Krisanthi and her band performing jazzy arrangements of songs from Broadway shows plus two songs that she wrote. Her holiday CD “You and Me by the Christmas Tree”, features her jazz and pop arrangements of holiday classics along with two new Christmas songs that she wrote. Her other CDs, “My Back Yard”, “A Centennial Tribute To George and Ira Gershwin” and a live recording of her show, “Celebratin’ Swing”, are a mix of her jazzy arrangements of classic songs as well as her heartfelt award-winning original songs. Krisanthi’s song “If I Had Only Known” was featured on the compilation CD distributed to the European subscribers of Jazz Magazine along with a full feature article about her and her music. Krisanthi’s CDs and digital downloads on iTunes, etc. have been purchased by fans in Italy, Portugal, Switzerland, Greece, Brazil, Spain, Japan, China, Australia, Canada, and throughout the U.S. They have received many impressive press reviews and continue to sell thousands of copies, receiving airplay and high accolades on radio stations nationwide and in Canada. In other areas of musical employment, Krisanthi is the songwriter and singing voice heard on many New England television and radio jingles. As a private instructor of piano, music theory, and vocal performance, she is a member of The National Association for Music Education and The International Association of Jazz Educators. In other areas of musical enjoyment, Krisanthi likes to play several other instruments, tap dance, and swing dance.
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