A Big Announcement - Positivity Strategist Changing with the Times - PS94 - Positivity Strategist - Robyn Stratton-Berkessel

Changing with the Times

I’m making a big announcement in this episode. My brand is all about positive change, and if I didn’t practice that, then you could say I’m not practicing what I preach. I’m excited to be trying something new again. My podcast is changing with the times.

My first episode of Positivity Strategist was way back in August 2014, so in the life of podcasters, you could say I am seasoned! In the early days, after achieving #1 in iTunes store in New and Noteworthy during the first 6 weeks, publicists began emailing me asking me to read books and interview their authors. I did that for a short while. I was selective about who I interviewed, as I did want to keep within my mission of shining the light on positive psychology, appreciative inquiry and strengths-based approaches to human and organization development. As I say in my introduction to the show:

My goal is to shine the light on what works and amplifies the everyday, micro-moments of positivity, irrespective of what else is going on in people’s lives.

I wanted to bring attention people who were doing good things in the world and for the world to tell their stories to inspire us all to live our best lives.

With the main format as an interview show, and being asked to interview a range of authors, I’ve had lively conversations. And, I did suffer a period of burnout keeping up with a show a week. To show compassion to myself, I changed to show to be bi-weekly instead of weekly. That was a saner pace. Then I made another change and I experimented with shorter solo shows which I loved doing and proved to be very popular. As an example;

I want to give a shout out to Jolanda Blum who left a 5-star review on iTunes in January 2018. She wrote:

I listened to the 5 shorter series Robyn created in December and January and they just instantly made me feel great about 2018! They are so uplifting and with very easy steps you can change how you feel about yourself and how you interact with other people including your loved ones! Thank YOU for always trying out new ways to inspire us!”

JOLANDA BLUM

And she also forwarded the show to many of her friends. I was touched. Thank you, Jolanda! Reviews and ratings are important, as it helps shows gain higher visibility on the app stores.

New Direction – Changing to Seasons

Well, I feel strongly about continuing as I have worked very hard to keep the show and increasingly I hear from you, dear listeners that you are enjoying the shows and you get value from the content.

I’ve dreamed of having a co-host for some time, where we have conversations and build on each other and explore a topic over a season. It just seems to make great sense to have a season that focuses on a theme that can be developed. Over the last year, it's come together. I’ve been collaborating with a colleague around a specific body of work which she introduced me to, and I fell in love with. We’ve truly enjoyed our weekly conversations and explorations for almost a year.

There’ll be two of us talking about a specifically chosen theme My co-host, starting in the next episode is Sallie Lee. Sallie has been practicing Appreciative Inquiry (AI) for over 20 years. She was one of the original AI facilitators, trained to design and implement global initiatives. I won't say more about Sallie until you meet her again in the next show.

Sallie and I have some robust content and many stories to share.

Season 2 of Positivity Strategist

The focus of season 2 is Appreciative Voice and Choice: Literacies for Living and Leading in this Century.

Each episode we’ll focus on a specific literacy that will help us all to lift up our appreciative voice to help us make choices to navigate our relational world. We’ll explore the specific literacies for living and leading today. These literacies, which go beyond skills and competencies are grounded in the theory and practices of Appreciative Inquiry.

Just to whet your appetite, here’s something I wrote about appreciative voice

Cultivating an appreciative voice not only strengthens you and expands your world, it also strengthens others and expands their worlds.”

I’m very proud that this statement was picked up and published by Tim Slack and Suzanne Quinney’s in one of their books, Reflections a book about developing the power of AI through the practice of appreciative journaling.

I’m very excited about Season 2. I trust you will find it extremely valuable and enjoyable. Make sure you let us know!

Let's Stay Connected

It's always great to hear from you. Please connect with me to ask questions or leave comments about this episode or the podcast in general, and there are several good ways to do this:

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