Self Improvement Episodes

"We all have the ability to make someon's life better and to serve." This was only one of the quotes from David Spisak in this episode of how to use your uncommon to power you.   Have you ever felt uncommon but leaned more into the common to power you?  David challenges that theory, as he talks everything from his strengths vs superpowers, thinking differently, optimizing your income, and his soul goal to "empty his head before he is dead."

Quinn Conyers joins me today and raises the roof when it comes to the power of amplification.  She is a power speaker and prides herself on transforming average experiences into epic events as an Emcee.  She broadasts the brilliance of Black Women in business and leaves nothing short of power around the Coaching, Cocktails & Conversations Kitchen Table today. From being vulnerable to debunking 3 speaking myths to leaning into 7 considerations to amplify your voice today, this is a power episode that you do not want to miss! IF YOU LOVED THE SHOW, DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE YOUR 5 STAR REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS! I'D LOVE TO READ IT ON AN UPCOMING EPISODE.

Dre Baldwin is an author of 29 books, a former NBA player, publisher of over 15,542 pieces of content, a coach and teacher of discipline, confidence and mental toughness.  On this episode, he joins Lolita E. Walker to chat, not only these concepts, but also about leadership, a bit about his journey, tangible take-aways for each of us and his philosophy of how to work on your personal and professional game.  It's a good one ya'll.  I also share 4 considerations of how to get in, stay in and constantly work on your GAME.  REFERENCE EPISODE- Pair this episode with Episode 9 and gain some soul-work on climbing the LEAD Ladder - https://podcast.lolitawalker.com/episode-9-with-mario-scott-1/  EPISODE AFFIRMATION - "I am the leader who fails forward to crush anything that may give he appearance of being a roadblock on my path." Grab your 40-card deck of affirmations at https://www.lolitawalker.com/shop

Dr. Tina Opie is a powerhouse, who brings nothing short of a dynamic conversation, to this episode of Coaching, Cocktails & Conversations.  She a strategic management and organizational behavior expert, an award-winning researcher, consultant and Associate Professor of Management at Babson College, to name a few.  As they engage in diverse, equitable and inclusive workspaces, she and Lolita talk everything from allyship, power dynamics, the power of open-ended questions, goals, challenging the status quo, culture and so much more.  They even tap into perimenopause.  Pull up a seat and join Dr. Opie and Lolita at the kitchen table.

Whether physical "junk" or the perceived "junk" that we find hidden within us that we carry around for way too long, Vondre Smith of http://www.myatmosfera.com, brings the absolute fire on not only how, at 5 years old, he became an entrepreneur, using the "junk" that other people did not want, but he also shares 3 immediate, “in-your-face” marketing strategies to help us get in the right audiences TODAY! In this episode, Lolita also shares 4 strategies on how to think about "JUNK," with the goal of challenging your thinking to get you moving to your bigger, better and bolder self. When you are ready, so am I! #letsgo.  This episode is soooo good.  Family, business, mindset, self-development, perseverance and perspective are only some of the concepts shared and discussed.  Welcome to Lolita’s kitchen table!

Bobby Del Rio, Canadian Activist, Actor, Play and Screenwriter,  and so much more, is joining Lolita for a bit of Coaching, Cocktails & Conversations on this episode 38.  From the intermission of the pandemic and shifting mindsets to huge wins on the app called Clubhouse, to the flow and impact of standing in your truth, Bobby talks crypto, racism, hierarchy, digital space vs physical space, and that is just the tip of the iceberg.  He leaves us with powerful reminders of "I am even ok if it's a huge, spectacular failure" and "I have to take this opportunity."  Here's the question.  How are we each choosing to narrate the screenplays of our lives? Hmmmm, tap into this episode and even grab a surprise of Lolita sharing one of her unpublished poems called, Dear Unleashed Potential.  Grab your CC&C journal and meet us at the kitchen table.

Ivory Tifa, Occupational Therapist, Poet and Kindness Doula joins Lolita E. Walker on this episode and it is soooo juicy.  It challenges your thinking a bit and helps each of us say hmmmm. We are about to move a little differently after this episode here! Question:  When you are at your lowest, do you think of kindness as that "thing" that will help you cope and heal through it all?  Hmmm. #nojudgement but worth the thought. Ivory not only shares an original poem entitled, "Would you do anything differently?" but she also draws an intersection between therapy, healing and kindness.   Imagine being near the World Trade Center during 9/11, in a city with no family and your dorm room in shambles.  Would your first thought be to gift kindness?  You have to tune in. We talk everything from walking into purpose and passion, recognizing you've been moving in your zone of genius every day, without even knowing working with children at the border to help them cope with trauma, random acts of kindness that we can do TODAY, plus so much more.

David Bianchi,  poet, actor, philanthropist, just to name a few, joins us on this episode to talk everything from making history in the NFT space, as the first spoken word performance poet to create an NFT.  Unfamiliar with what an NFT is and how powerful of a currency it is?  No worries, he shares all of the details during our conversation.  But, David doesn't just stop there.  His "spinema" of "I Can't Breathe" has reached millions and has reshaped how we fuse poetry, art, cinema, social consciousness and our words into a true artform to make money, while impacting community.  100% of the proceeds of his "I Can't Breathe" piece will benefit The George Floyd Foundation and his aim is to raise $150K more dollars for non-profits by December 31, 2021 to pour into the communities that each "spinema" profits.  In today's episode, COACHING leaves you with an exercise of "soul work" called The Circle of You.  We look at limiting beliefs and relate them back to the power that our thoughts and our words have and how you may be able to look at them a bit differently.  COCKTAILS celebrates the amazingness of who you are and reminds you of the affirmation that you are greatness where you stand.  Own it and own the words that you say to yourself and to others.  CONVERSATIONS are where you hear David Bianchi share stories of when he was young and how words shaped him, a bit of inspiration to leave us motivated to action, what he feels is a barrier that still faces him today and his 4 minute, 50 second, power piece of work called, "I Can't Breathe."

It's something about these Phenomenal, Die-Hard Morgan State University Grads!  In this episode, we uncover what really happens in the Men's Den? I'm chatting with four of my super-amazing men friends, sharing laughs and we are chatting everything from affirming our children and the power of affirming our tribe to advice for single mothers. You may hear a crackle in my voice that sounds like a tear rolling down my eyes, but stick with it - I did hahah. We tackle the question of "who is on the Board of Directors of your life", how to hold others accountable, shedding people from your life and some of the funniest memories between friends, and that's only the tip of the iceberg.  Grab your mocktail or cocktail and join us at the kitchen table to celebrate my 1 year podcast anniversary with my Morgan State University family! Please join me in welcoming Dr. Justin Black, Lamar Robinson, Allan Boomer & Mervin Bourne. Let's have a bit of fun!

What a powerful episode!  Dr. Khalek Kirkland, Principal of THE Boys Prep in the Bronx, NY, is ON FIRE, as he talks everything from the power of connection to several ways to tap into our Black and Brown boy scholars differently and intently within the educational arena.  During conversations, we delve into how to humbly thyself to live another day, respecting your mother, setting expectations and holding yourself accountable, with ownership and courage by your side.  He shares The SARAH Model of receiving constructive feedback.  I share 4 considerations on how to master your F.A.T.E.  You don't want to miss it! The title of today's episode is a quote pulled from the poem, Invictus, by William Earnest Henley, written in 1875, where, after a leg amputation and many surgery interventions on the other, he wrote this powerful piece on navigating adversity and coming out on the other side, despite the darkness that you may or may not experience within your circumstance.

Imagine being born to immigrants, being a 1st generation American, having a largely successful career, launching your own law practice and BOOM- Federal Prison!  Who hasn't experienced pain?  Whether physical, emotional, mental and more, we each have a pain-story, even you.  On this episode, I've invited Rashmi Airan to share her story and to gift us with tangibles of how we can begin to turn our pain to purpose TODAY! We talk takeaways from her experience, learnings from prison, lessons for and from children and so much more.  Grab your pen and pad because we are digging deep in this episode, Change Agents.

"Dear Meghan" is not only the title of my powerful poem that I share at minute 15.59, but it is also a celebration of one of the Power Women that I am calling out as a woman making history as we speak, specifically for walking into fear with courage by her side.  How often do we struggle to do that? Lemmie ask you this. How often do you truly pause and "see" those around you for who they are and what they are bringing to the table? How often do you acknowledge the hurt that you and others may be holding on to? How often do we gift folks the flowers they deserve in this moment? This episode is a celebration and thank you to the women everywhere who are making history and standing in all of their power. Listen in and grab a few things to shift differently.

What if....you were unconventional and used it to power your dreams?  Imagine being an executive assistant for 10 years and building a six-figure business from your cubicle?  You heard me right.  What if you sat in your "Queendom" during this Women's History Month and dared to live as you colored outside of the lines?  Imagine that!  In this episode, I am joined by Celebrity Ghost Writer and Power Communicator and Journalist, Pauleanna Reid and Phenomenal Poet, D'Naia Bryant.  Through their work and their words, we each leave empowered, with a few nuggets to leverage today and with a revised pep in our step.  Are you ready?  I'm #allin

We are celebrating Women's History Month with poetry, perseverance and power.  I've tapped some of the amazing poets that I met on the Clubhouse app and am excited to bring them to this platform to share their work.  This episode is dedicated to all women, particularly the ancestry of the Black women highlighted in the poetry and experiences of the poets today - Duane Reid, Livia Kojo Alour, Tariq Saint Sankofa & Yours Truly.

Kiran Bassi joins Lolita Walker in this episode to talk vulnerability in the workplace, sexual harassment, shame, leadership (and lack thereof), ethnic and corporate culture, owning your story and everything in between! Far too often in corporate spaces, we keep our heads down to get the work done, overlooking the bias and bullying that is happening to and around us. In this episode, you may challenge what you are playing. What if you found the courage to tell your manager that you were uncomfortable in a particular workplace situation and their first question was, What did you do? Hmmmm, think about this happening even in your personal life!  Does the weight of shame overtake you?  Do you retreat and begin to question yourself?  Some of us will never know until it happens. Others of us have been here and wonder what we could have done differently.  In this episode,  Kiran is telling her story of harassment and she is sharing the pain, shame, conflicts within her ethnic culture, the irony of the corporate culture, owning her truth and using it to help others share their stories.