Monthly Archives

October 2022

Oct 26
Love18

Chrissy Bernal

By Author, Faith, Fun, Personal Growth No Comments

This episode is sponsored by:

Chrissy Bernal is quite a character and has led a life full of surprises and things you just can’t make up.  We talked about light-hearted stuff like sleep eating (yes, eating in her sleep) and talked about heavier topics such as regaining her confidence after escaping domestic violence. Did you know her daughters are Guinness Book record holders? I’m telling you; her story is a movie in the making.

In this episode:

  • Why she carried meatloaf in her purse
  • Competing in physique competitions
  • Gary’s son being born dead
  • What Chrissy has in common with Kurt Warner
  • Primordial Dwarfism
  • Throwing up the first time she saw her daughter
  • Dandy-Walker
  • The shocking thing her special needs daughter did at camp
  • The surprising thing that prepared her for having a child with Primordial Dwarfism
  • Survivor’s guilt
  • What made Sierra so independent
  • Having a woman threaten to call CPS
  • Sleep eating
  • The time her husband said she was going to kill him
  • How her daughter’s global fame shaped her career
  • Domestic abuse
  • What it’s like having kids who don’t want to take normal paths

Quotations:

“When I was competing, I would carry meatloaf in my purse because it smelled better than tuna, and I would just take it out of the baggy and start eating it in the car.” ~Chrissy Bernal

“She [Sienna] knows everything that she’s missing out on. So she tries to gain control of what she can, which is why she started her jewelry business so she could have something of her own that she got to have control over.” ~Chrissy Bernal

“I said like any good Texan would say, ‘Well, you put your big girl panties on, and you just do it.’” ~Chrissy Bernal

“Sometimes taking the first step is the plan, and you figure it out along the way as you make mistakes.” ~Chrissy Bernal

Guest’s Bio:

After accidentally ending up in the global spotlight for her unique identical twins, author Chrissy Bernal was forced to create & grow a brand on the fly. She knew she needed to harness the power of the publicity they were getting. Fast forward 15 years, and now by combining her formal education with the real-world knowledge gained from her family’s growth toward global brand awareness, she has a deep understanding of how to help brands clearly communicate their stories, increase their influence & reduce the chaos experienced in the journey of being known.

While she works with men and women, she’s particularly passionate about working with women because statistics show that female entrepreneurs make half of what their male counterparts make.
She knows from her own experience that particular events in her life caused her to lose sight of her worth, and she has heard the same thing from other women.

She has had so many wonderful coaches and mentors over the years; she wishes she had found them earlier in her career. It would have saved her a lot of headaches and lost income.
She remembers always feeling jumbled and constantly operating from a desperation mindset. Now that she’s clear about who she is, what she’s passionate about, and what difference she wants to make, she feels so much more focused.

And she wants to help other women feel the same way.

She believes women should embrace their worth and confidently pursue the success they desire, so she guides them through proven frameworks for Branding, Marketing, and Communication and uses strategic PR to help them increase their audience and improve their influence with intention and less stress.

Guest’s Contact Info:

www.ChrissyBernal.com

www.BeABetterBrand.com

Oct 19
Love20

Colton R. Smith

By Military, Personal Growth, Ukraine 2 Comments

This episode is sponsored by:

One day he was waiting tables, the next day, he was on his way to aid in the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. Colton R. Smith joined Gary Scott Thomas for a fascinating conversation where he shared his experience, including the time when he came upon a car that had been riddled with bullets by the Russians even though it had been full of children. If you’ve been following the coverage of the war in Ukraine, listen to this episode to get unfiltered information.

In this episode:

  • Why he decided to go to Ukraine even though he was “just an average person”
  • What kinds of people can make a difference in the world
  • War tourists
  • The full human experience
  • The profound darkness he saw while in Ukraine
  • His thoughts on Russia’s preparedness to go to war
  • How amazing the people of Ukraine are
  • Why they had to relocate their headquarters
  • Working to help Ukrainian history not be lost
  • Optimizing humanitarian operations

Quotations:

“It just captured my imagination and my interest. And I was like, ‘This is history playing out before our eyes. This is so important.’” ~Colton R. Smith

“It literally just gives me chills talking about it, and I’ve been a part of it for so long now. But at that point, I was just devastated. I was working at a Mexican restaurant in Morgan Hill, and I just couldn’t do my job right…the Russians were starting to surround the capital. This city’s been taken…That city’s been taken…I couldn’t sleep.” ~Colton R. Smith

“I’m a historian, and I realize that the people who change history are no smarter than you or I… It doesn’t matter. Everybody has within them the possibility to be able to tilt the world slightly further away from darkness, mayhem, and chaos and more toward the light.” ~Colton R. Smith

“Every single person has the power to make the world a little bit darker or a little bit brighter.” ~Colton R. Smith

“My moral compass in my conscience and my heart would not allow me to say no. Even if it scared the hell outta me, it didn’t matter.” ~Colton R. Smith

“Only by looking the darkest things dead in the eye can you have a hope to defeat them.” ~Colton R. Smith

“History is filled with this profound suffering, but it’s also filled with this profound endurance that has enabled you and me to sit here and have this incredible conversation. It’s a beautiful thing, and you have to take the light with the dark and the yin with the yang and truly understand things for the reality of what they are.” ~Colton R. Smith

“It took me about a full month to really process everything that I experienced while it was over there [Ukraine].” ~Colton R. Smith

“I would get that thousand-yard stare looking off, thinking about everything that I saw, and my friends would snap me out of it.” ~Colton R. Smith

“One of the reasons why I went was in honor of everybody who wished that they could go and couldn’t. And also because I’ve been gifted such an incredible life filled with so much privilege, and it was time to go and give back to my world.” ~Colton R. Smith

“They’ve [Russia] lost more men than they lost in 10 years years of warfighting in Afghanistan. That’s not sustainable militarily.” ~Colton R. Smith

“The sad part is, is that we’re at a place right now where we’re seeing donations and interest dry up while this is still raging in an overwhelming way.” ~Colton R. Smith

“Without proper funding and without proper care, many people could die. Many people could freeze to death.” ~Colton R. Smith

“Human trafficking has been a brutal reality of this crisis.” ~Colton R. Smith

“Something can be. People can be saved. You can do something to try to help change this terrible situation [human trafficking], rather than just sitting around and shaking your head and saying, ‘That’s sad.’” ~Colton R. Smith

Guest’s Bio:

Colton R. Smith is a 25-year-old Californian humanitarian worker who recently returned from serving the humanitarian mission in Poland and Ukraine, where he daily faced the overwhelming crisis created by the Russian Federation’s brutal ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Smith is a graduated UC Santa Cruz European history major who quit his job and dropped everything to travel to Eastern Europe to do everything he could to help in this humanitarian crisis. In eastern Poland near the Ukrainian border, Smith joined a humanitarian aid organization called Help Ukraine Center, where he worked for two months helping to send thousands of tons of humanitarian aid to the war-torn country next door. At Help Ukraine Center, he met numerous incredible people that strengthened both his faith in humanity and his resolve to dedicate himself fully to this crisis. He was then recruited by another organization called Teleport, specializing in humanitarian optimization to help solve the inevitable problems that organizations face when responding to wartime crises. In July 2022, Teleport Organisation sent Colton to Ukraine as part of a delegation of Teleport representatives to meet in Kyiv with members of the Ukrainian government and a number of heroic Ukrainian humanitarian organizations to lay the groundwork for Teleport’s new missions inside Ukraine itself. Under the near-daily blare of air raid sirens, Colton and his team forged new bonds in the Ukrainian capital, with massive potential to make a substantial impact in this intense humanitarian crisis. Now, Colton has returned stateside to fundraise for Teleport, which faces a severe shortage of funding. Without the donation support of concerned members of the public, Teleport will be unable to fulfill its role and carry out its various humanitarian missions in Ukraine. Colton and his incredible team hope that through spreading awareness of the realities on the ground and fundraising, Teleport can continue to work every day to provide the critical support that Ukrainian civilians need to successfully ride out the hell of Putin’s onslaught against them. 

Guest’s Contact Info:

Visit Teleport’s website below to learn more about their humanitarian work and make a vital direct contribution to enable that work’s continuation:
www.teleport-organisation.com

Oct 12
Love5

Kylie Morgan

By Music, Personal Growth No Comments

This episode is sponsored by:

Country artist Kylie Morgan is simply a delight. She was kind enough to share about her personal life, her career, and what’s next.

In this episode:

  • What inspired her style of music
  • Why she was bullied
  • Writing with Walker
  • Her pride and joy
  • Getting to work with her dream team
  • Why she was scared of marriage
  • Her view on marriage
  • How quickly she moved in with her fiance
  • Keeping up with two musical careers

Quotations:

“She’s [Shania Twain] an actual superhero and the Exhibit A of how to run an empire.” ~Kylie Morgan

“You can become an actual human that these people feel like they know through social media. And so when I meet fans at shows, the first thing that they say is like, ‘Oh my God, I feel like I know you.'” ~Kylie Morgan

“You can filter everything, sugar coat everything that you wanna tell your best friend, or you can bluntly be like, ‘Get over it. Get up and move on. You’re better than that.’ And that’s kind of the tough love I want to give my fans in a way that’s the best you would talk to them.” ~Kylie Morgan

“I always felt in past relationships that I did have to choose between either being a girlfriend or being in a relationship or my career.” ~Kylie Morgan

“Throw a party in Nashville. Make sure there is free beer and wine and a cheeseboard, and they will come.” ~Kylie Morgan

Guest’s Bio:

Exuberant and ethereal, Kylie Morgan is turning heads with her new EP P.S., out everywhere now. Pairing articulate, coming-of-age revelations with fun up-tempo anthems, P.S. features seven tracks, each co-written by Kylie, including her debut single to country radio, “If He Wanted To He Would.” P.S. is the anticipated follow-up to her breakout EP, Love, Kylie – a bold introduction that scored the Oklahoma native a place as one of CMT’s Next Women of Country, VEVO’s 2021 DSCVR Artists to Watch, and to CMA’s coveted KixStart program. Already surpassing 100 MILLION global streams, Kylie has been praised for her “powerful voice” (CMT) with “infectious arrangements, irresistibly clever lyrics, and a vibrant, empowering energy” (American Songwriter). On the road this summer, she recently wrapped the GOOD TIME TOUR with Niko Moon after previously opening for artists including Dan + Shay, Little Big Town, Maren Morris, Kip Moore, Jason Derulo, Gavin DeGraw, Brett Eldredge, and Billy Currington. For more information, visit kyliemorgan.com, and keep up with her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.

Guest’s Contact Info:

www.kyliemorgan.com

Oct 05
Love3

William Lee Golden

By Author, Music, Personal Growth No Comments

This episode is sponsored by:

Gary had the distinct honor of having William Lee Golden of the Oak Ridge Boys join him for an open conversation, and William was very frank.

In this episode:

  • What he did during the pandemic
  • Who taught him to play the guitar
  • Why he had to leave the Oakridge Boys
  • His book Behind the Beard
  • Growing up on a cotton and peanut farm
  • Why they didn’t sing any new songs during the pandemic
  • What he thinks about his kids being in the music industry
  • Which song gives him chills
  • Taking a stand and being who you are
  • The insane number of situps he still does at 83

Quotations:

“You know, we were all shut outta church. And so we’ve come together here at our old home and. Got started singing old songs.” ~William Lee Golden

“You can’t go dragging your differences around. You gotta get past all that.” ~William Lee Golden

“I’m into music more than anything.” ~William Lee Golden

“Their [his kids] mothers are the unsung heroes in their lives.” ~William Lee Golden

“I don’t wanna hate nobody. I wanna love everybody.” ~William Lee Golden

“I didn’t come to town and try to join the Oakridge Boys to try and become the star of the show.” ~William Lee Golden

“You can’t pretend to be someone you’re not your entire life.” ~William Lee Golden

“I sing from my heart.” ~William Lee Golden

“I’m who I am, and it didn’t matter.” ~William Lee Golden

Guest’s Bio:

He is one of the most recognized personalities in Country and Gospel music, having garnered the highest accolades as a member of the legendary group The Oak Ridge Boys. Now, the renowned “Mountain Man” is climbing to new heights in the world of fine art.

Doo-wop, Pop, Country

For the first time in a long time, William Lee Golden has a spring in his step. Coming out of a tumultuous period in his life, the iconic baritone vocalist has found the love of his life in his new bride, Simone. He’s also comfortable with his place in the world as part of the Oak Ridge Boys, who are celebrating their 42nd Anniversary together in 2015, while Golden’s celebrating his 50th anniversary since joining the iconic group.

A farmer’s son, Golden spent the early years of his life in rural south Alabama surrounded by music. As he grew up, he started singing at the age of seven and began performing regularly on his grandfather’s weekly radio show along with his sister, Lanette. It was there that his love of harmony came alive, and by his teenage years, Golden grew to appreciate the Country, Gospel, Doo-Wop, and Pop quartets, and sure enough, it wasn’t long before he was joining up with The Oak Ridge Boys.

Nobody back home in Brewton, Alabama, could’ve imagined back then all that Golden would accomplish with The Oak Ridge Boys since joining the band in 1965. While on a break from the quarter, Golden released several solo recordings to considerable success.

But for as much success he has had as a recording artist, Golden’s no one-dimensional act. He’s found considerable success with his paintings, and he’s finding even more success with a new visual medium, photography, where he often focuses on landscape portraits and scenes. Many of his favorite shots can be found on Golden’s official Facebook page.

Family has long held a special meaning to Golden. In addition to his newly found love with his wife, Simone, Golden has four sons in Rusty, Chris, Craig, and Solomon. Golden also has six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Along with his marriage to Simone, he also welcomes his step-daughter Megan, her husband Newton, along with the addition of another grandchild to the fold.

Lifetime Achievements

With over forty million records sold, The Oaks have had more than a dozen Number One singles and over thirty Top Ten hits. Their numerous Gold and Platinum recordings include “Thank God For Kids,” “Ozark Mountain Jubilee,” and the crowd favorite “Elvira.” The Oaks have received five Grammy Awards, one American Music Award, four Country Music Awards (CMA), four Academy of Country Music Awards (ACM), the 2008 ACM Pioneer Award, ten Dove Awards, the 2010 President’s Honor, induction into The Grand Ole Opry in 2011 as well as the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. In 2015 they were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. The legendary group has received an abundant amount of other national and international acknowledgments.

American Vagabond

During his forties, Golden went through profound changes emotionally, spiritually, and physically. “With all the success came a very fast-paced agenda. The mountain man and Indian way of life appealed to me because they brought me back to my childhood, where the simple things in life meant the most. I wanted to stop and see myself as God made me.” William reflects. The once-trend setter let his hair and beard grow to their natural lengths.

Golden had a desire to grow musically as well. In 1985, Golden recorded his first solo album called “American Vagabond” for MCA Records. The critically acclaimed album was produced by the great Booker T. Jones and showcased Golden’s individual talent. The ultimate promoter himself, Golden hired New York Publicist Pam Lewis. Pam was known for helping launch MTV and later became known for launching superstar Garth Brooks as his co-manager. 

Notes of Interest

William Lee Golden has earned recognition for his individual achievements in both music and art. Over the years, the iconic features of the Singing Painter have been the subject of many sketches, paintings, and sculptures by other world-renowned artists. Golden has received the “Entertainer Of The Year” Award from the Cherokee Indian Association, which is comprised of 21 tribes from across America, as well as the “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the Alabama Music Hall of Fame.

Guest’s Contact Info:

https://www.williamleegolden.com/