The Brave Files

Sloane: The Heart of the Phoenix: Becoming One’s Self

Inspiration - Love - Growth A name change, a career change, and several adventures off the beaten path, Sloane tore her life down and rebuilt it with intention. Despite the challenges, by following her heart she’s found her purpose. She now understands the importance of growing into her true self by any means necessary.TakeawaysSometimes you have to allow yourself to grow, despite the people around you who want you to stay the same.You have to experience life in all its “ick” to find your wings, risks will hurt, but it will become worth it.Take time to celebrate yourself, just being alive is something amazing.JOIN HEATHER'S BOOK LAUNCH TEAM - THE BRAVE CIRCLE here.Get additional details, show notes, links, and a full transcript of the episode here.Get your BRAVE on by joining our exclusive (and FREE) Facebook Collective, Brave on Purpose. Join here. Call 312-646-0205 to share feedback, ask questions, or tell us how you're choosing bravely!Grab your BRAVE AF and GRATEFUL AF swag now. Check out The Brave Files Book Collection here! Support The Brave Files on Patreon here.

Mike Iamele: Failure: Just as Valuable as Success

VULNERABLE • ZANY • ALIGNEDMike Iamele stumbled into the spotlight in 2014 after his coming-out story went viral. So when the business venture following his success failed, Mike was crushed. Rather than let the failure itself define him, Mike decided to host a Failure Celebration that changed his life. It turns out, failure is just as valuable as success. TakeawaysFailure is just as valuable as success. If your mind is unaligned, your body is, too. It’s okay to make yourself vulnerable and ask for help. The results can be better than your wildest dreams.Prioritizing your health is hard, unglamorous work, but it’ll help you in your life and in your business.CHARITY OF THE WEEK: The Trevor Project, an organization that provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to young LGBTQ people.JOIN HEATHER'S BOOK LAUNCH TEAM, THE BRAVE CIRCLE! www. VickeryandCo.Com/BraveCircleGet additional details, show notes, links, and a full transcript of the episode here.Get your BRAVE on by joining our exclusive (and FREE) Facebook Collective, Brave on Purpose. Join here. Email teamBRAVE@Vickeryandco.com to share feedback, ask questions, or tell us how you're choosing bravely!Grab your BRAVE AF and GRATEFUL AF swag now. Check out The Brave Files Book Collection here! Support The Brave Files on Patreon here.

Annie Ruggles: Legitimizing Bravery

CIRCUITOUS • HARD-WON • IMPATIENTAnnie P. Ruggles knows she’s brave—But it took a long time for her to recognize and admit it. For years, Annie believed bravery was reserved for grand acts. But now Annie sees that getting out of her comfort zone and doing small Brave acts throughout the day are what count most. There’s a power in every day brave, folks. Let’s get into it. Top Takeaways:Your name is your title. It’s how you declare yourself to the world.It’s hard to let go of moments where we feel rejected or embarrassed. But just because it hurts a lot doesn’t mean it has to matter a lot. What other people think of you is none of your business.If the thing scares us the most, it’s usually a pretty good indicator that it’s something we ought to try.Everything you want is just on the other side of uncomfortable. After a while of doing something brave, it becomes effortless.Feeling any of your feelings is brave, but especially allowing yourself to feel fear.Get additional details, show notes, links, and a full transcript of the episode here.Get your BRAVE on by joining our exclusive (and FREE) Facebook Collective, Brave on Purpose. Join here. email heather@vickeryandco.com to share feedback, ask questions, or tell us how you're choosing bravely!Grab your BRAVE AF and GRATEFUL AF swag now. Check out The Brave Files Book Collection here! Support The Brave Files on Patreon here.

Heather Vickery: What I’ve Learned From Being Alone (Solo Episode)

In this solo episode, Heather talks about the importance of being alone. She shares her own experiences and lessons from spending time alone and traveling alone. Do you like spending time with yourself? Why? Why not? If you don’t like to be alone—What are you afraid of?Takeaways:When we choose bravely with intention and thought, we choose bigger, we win bigger, and it’s contagious.Brave, much like success, is self-defined.Brave can be anything. What’s important is that you have a fear that you acknowledge, learn something from, and choose to do the brave thing anyway.Being alone is crucial for your growth. Being alone is brave.Get additional details, show notes, links, and a full transcript of the episode here.Get your BRAVE on by joining our exclusive (and FREE) Facebook Collective, Brave on Purpose. Join here. To share feedback, ask questions, or tell us how you're choosing bravely, email us at Heather@vickeryandco.com.Grab your BRAVE AF and GRATEFUL AF swag now. Check out The Brave Files Book Collection here! Support The Brave Files on Patreon here.

Terry Tucker: Success vs. Significance

Terry Tucker started his life following his father's dreams and ignoring his own passions. He didn’t realize any of this, of course, until his father passed away. Then he started to live the life HE had always dreamed of. And then he got cancer again, and again and again. But Terry’s a survivor. While he knows cancer will, eventually, take his life he is NOT interested in giving up. Because Terry doesn’t believe life is just about him. He believes his story can change hearts and minds and He wants to live a life that leaves a positive, loving impact on the people around him. The thing he most wants others to know is that risks are worth taking because life is short and failure is good.Takeaways:We get lots of different chances to do a lot of different things.You have to control your mind or it will control you.You can embrace pain in life and use it to become a stronger and more determined individual.What we leave behind is what we weave in the hearts of others.As long as you never quit, you can never be defeated.We can’t let the fear of failure keep us from living.Get additional details, show notes, links, and a full transcript of the episode here.Get your BRAVE on by joining our exclusive (and FREE) Facebook Collective, Brave on Purpose. Join here. Call 312-646-0205 to share feedback, ask questions, or tell us how you're choosing bravely!Grab your BRAVE AF and GRATEFUL AF swag now. Check out The Brave Files Book Collection here! Support The Brave Files on Patreon here. 

Gayle Kabaker: Permission to trust the process

Gayle Kabaker is living the dream. She’s an artist and illustrator whose work is featured in The New Yorker, Condé Nast, and even at the Kennedy Center. Still, there are times when her inner critic tries to sabotage her career. Gayle’s success doesn’t come from a lack of fear or self-doubt—It comes from her ability to push through, with a little help from her friends, family, and collaborators.Takeaways:The quiet is before something busy will happen. Give yourself time to do nothing! Change is the only constantIt will all present itself as it should.Sometimes you have to just try crazy things. Sometimes they don’t work out, but a lot of times they do.Success doesn’t stem from a lack of fear or self-doubt.Get additional details, show notes, links, and a full transcript of the episode here.Get your BRAVE on by joining our exclusive (and FREE) Facebook Collective, Brave on Purpose. Join here. Call 312-646-0205 to share feedback, ask questions, or tell us how you're choosing bravely!Grab your BRAVE AF and GRATEFUL AF swag now. Check out The Brave Files Book Collection here! Support The Brave Files on Patreon here.

Cheryl Rausch: Maybe we’re all a little bit psychic!

Cheryl Rausch says everyone is “a little bit psychic.” She joins host Heather Vickery, to talk about discovering her psychic ability, learning to trust ourselves and being your most vulnerable, authentic self!Takeaways:Our lives open up when we learn to trust ourselves.Energy never dies.We can’t ever fully suppress how we feel and who we truly are. Don’t prolong the inevitable—It only hurts you.Get additional details, show notes, links, and a full transcript of the episode here.REGISTER FOR THE BRAVE METHOD WORKSHOP HEREGet your BRAVE on by joining our exclusive (and FREE) Facebook Collective, Brave on Purpose. Join here. Call 312-646-0205 to share feedback, ask questions, or tell us how you're choosing bravely!Grab your BRAVE AF and GRATEFUL AF swag now. Check out The Brave Files Book Collection here!  

Kelly Gordon: An Unexpected Super Power

Meet Kelly Gordon, entrepreneur, activist, LGBTQ community member, recovering alcoholic, abuse survivor and so much more. Getting an Autism diagnosis at 33 provided Kelly with a lot of answers, but it didn’t fundamentally change who she was and how she, successfully, navigated the world. Kelly learned many coping skills as a young child and she’s used them to communicate and connect in remarkable ways. Her story may change your perspective on a lot of things and will enlighten you!TOP TAKEAWAYS: Communication is key. We can’t address a problem if we don’t know what the problem is. Writing and talking helps us identify those problems.Invaluable life skills can emerge from our greatest hardships.  We feel different things at different times. That’s okay. Just because you used to feel one way about a situation doesn’t mean you have to feel that way forever. And it doesn’t make how you feel now any less valid.It's boring to only hang out with people who think like you. And it doesn’t serve you in the long run.GRAB YOUR SEAT FOR THE BRAVE METHOD WORKSHOP RIGHT NOW! Get details and register, here.Get additional details, show notes, links, and a full transcript of the episode here.Get your BRAVE on by joining our exclusive (and FREE) Facebook Collective, Brave on Purpose. Join here. Call 312-646-0205 to share feedback, ask questions, or tell us how you're choosing bravely!Grab your BRAVE AF and GRATEFUL AF swag now. Check out The Brave Files Book Collection here! Support The Brave Files on Patreon here.Join us for the next "So you want to start a podcast" LIVE Q&A session with the experts from the Podcast Power Academy. Register here

Matt Zinman: Mindful Parenting, Single Dad

Matt Zinman never saw himself as an entrepreneur. But when he got a divorce, Matt decided to become his own boss so that he could be a present, hands-on father to his, then, young son. Taking that leap wasn’t easy, but Matt works through his fears by moving through the world with relentless positivity and earned confidence.TOP TAKEAWAYS: Humans are incredibly adaptable. When we have to, we do.Bravery means being afraid and pushing through the fear. Let your bravery bolster you, even when you’re brave for doing things that feel small.We can’t control what happens to us, but we can control how resilient we are.RESERVE YOUR SPOT FOR THE BRAVE METHOD WORKSHOP TODAY! CLICK HERE.Get additional details, show notes, links, and a full transcript of the episode here.Get your BRAVE on by joining our exclusive (and FREE) Facebook Collective, Brave on Purpose. Join here. Call 312-646-0205 to share feedback, ask questions, or tell us how you're choosing bravely!Grab your BRAVE AF and GRATEFUL AF swag now. Check out The Brave Files Book Collection here! Support The Brave Files on Patreon here.Join us for the next "So you want to start a podcast" LIVE Q&A session with the experts from the Podcast Power Academy. Register here

Elise Brown: Flames to the Future

Elise Brown thought she knew what she wanted from her life. But then her apartment complex burned down and she realized her life, up to that point, had never been about her! Today,  Elise's life looks wildly different than it did before the fire. That’s because Elise took the time to pause, reassess, and act on her intuition.TOP TAKEAWAYS: Despite what history has told you, you have control and power. You can create change. It’s never too late to change your life. You have permission to make decisions based on how you feel. Purpose-driven businesses set themselves up to fail if they aren’t diverse.Get additional details, show notes, links, and a full transcript of the episode here.Get your BRAVE on by joining our exclusive (and FREE) Facebook Collective, Brave on Purpose. Join here. Call 312-646-0205 to share feedback, ask questions, or tell us how you're choosing bravely!Grab your BRAVE AF and GRATEFUL AF swag now. Check out The Brave Files Book Collection here! Support The Brave Files on Patreon here.Join us for the next "So you want to start a podcast" LIVE Q&A session with the experts from the Podcast Power Academy. Register here