Peace Love and Bring a Bat

 

What happens after a major loss when the world expects you to move forward—but you no longer recognize the life or identity you have been left with?

In this episode of Peace, Love, and Bring a Bat, Uncle Dave welcomes Lynn Banis, executive coach, leadership-development professional, grief-transformation guide, and founder of Women Rising Together. Lynn shares how three devastating losses inspired her to help women rediscover their identities, rebuild their lives, and move toward purpose and joy.

Lynn spent much of her career working with a major global consulting firm, where she coached executives and developed leaders. Her work centered on helping people recognize their strengths, navigate crises, and become the best versions of themselves.

Then grief arrived in waves.

Lynn’s 106-year-old mother, who had been living with her, passed away. Nine months later, Lynn received a call informing her that her younger brother had died from a massive heart attack. Several months after that, her husband, Bill, died unexpectedly from complications following surgery.

Within approximately two and a half years, Lynn lost three of the most important people in her life.

A few months after her husband’s death, Lynn looked around their five-bedroom home, pool, and large yard and realized she could no longer manage everything. She quickly sold the house and downsized—something she now cautions people against doing while overwhelmed by fresh grief.

After the move, Lynn’s body forced her to stop. She spent three months recovering physically and emotionally from the accumulated pressure, loss, and major life changes.

As the fog began to lift, Lynn recognized that her professional experience had given her tools that could help others. She reviewed what had helped her, what had failed, and what had been missing. That reflection eventually became a transformation program for women rebuilding after significant loss.

Lynn does not focus on the earliest stage of grief, when emotions may be too intense for major decisions. Her work begins when someone reaches the point of saying, “I cannot remain here, but I do not know what comes next.”

Loss changes more than circumstances. It can remove identities built around being someone’s spouse, caregiver, employee, leader, mother, or provider. When those roles disappear, people may no longer know who they are or where they belong.

Lynn helps women peel away outdated stories, limiting beliefs, and expectations accumulated throughout life. They examine their values, strengths, moments of flow, supportive environments, and the activities that make them feel most alive. That information becomes the foundation for a new vision.

The process continues inside a supportive community where women can share experiences without being judged, rushed, or “fixed.” Lynn believes transformation happens through connection because people do not heal in isolation.

The conversation also explores how friends and family can support someone grieving. You do not need perfect words. Call, visit, sit quietly, offer coffee, or simply say, “I’m thinking about you, and I love you.” Presence is often more valuable than advice.

For the person experiencing grief, early steps can be small. Sit outside. Take a short walk. Feel the sunlight. Speak with someone safe. Attend the pity party when necessary—but do not move in and start forwarding your mail.

Grief is not something we simply “get over.” We learn to carry it differently while creating room for purpose, relationships, laughter, and joy to return.

In this episode, you will discover:

• How three major losses changed Lynn’s life and work
• Why grief can create a profound identity crisis
• Why major decisions during fresh grief require caution
• How isolation can delay healing
• What friends can say when they do not know what to say
• Why nature and movement can become valuable first steps
• How values may change after a significant loss
• Why rebuilding is different from recreating the past
• How community supports lasting transformation
• Why purposeful action matters more than empty affirmations

Lynn’s seed for the magic garden is this: Everything you have experienced has already developed capabilities within you. Those strengths have not disappeared. You may simply need help recognizing and accessing them.

Instead of demanding that you already be healed, tell yourself, “I am on the path,” or “I am working toward my next chapter.” Honor what you lost without building your permanent home inside the loss. Your future will not duplicate your past—but it can still contain meaning, purpose, community, and joy.

Connect with Lynn:

Women Rising Together: https://womenrisingtogether.org
Resources: Next Chapter Workbook and grief-support materials available through her platform

Bring peace and love into your life. When necessary, bring a bat, reach for community, take the next small step, and hit your sweet spot.

#PeaceLoveAndBringABat #UncleDave #LynnBanis #WomenRisingTogether #GriefSupport #LifeAfterLoss #Transformation #Community #Healing #Purpose

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HENRY MIMS: MORE THAN LOVE NOTES AND LAUGHTER

What does it take to build a relationship that survives mistakes, difficult conversations, personal growth, and the realities of everyday life?

In this episode of Peace, Love, and Bring a Bat, Uncle Dave welcomes Henry Mims, realtor, coach, husband, father, and co-author of More Than Love Notes and Laughter: Hen and Danny’s Guide to Building a Relationship Beyond the Ordinary.

Henry shares how hearing loss, family tragedy, anger, legal trouble, fatherhood, self-discovery, and grace helped transform him into the man and husband he is today.

Shortly after birth, Henry contracted bacterial meningitis. By age three, his family discovered that he was deaf. Before his hearing loss was understood, adults believed he had behavioral problems—especially because he reacted aggressively toward his mother, whose higher-pitched voice he could not hear.

Henry is now approximately 95 percent deaf and communicates largely by reading lips and interpreting body language. His desire to understand people became part of a lifelong effort to understand himself and the human condition.

Raised in Florida by a Cuban immigrant mother and a Southern father, Henry grew up in a household where excuses carried little weight. His mother fled Cuba after Castro’s rise, learned English, and built a new life in America. When Henry was 14, his father died from cancer.

Grief, anger, and poor decisions eventually led Henry into serious legal trouble. He found himself facing the possibility of decades behind bars. Receiving pretrial intervention gave him another opportunity—but discovering that he had a daughter gave him a reason to use it.

Henry looked at the people and dangers surrounding his life and realized they could eventually reach his child. He decided he was finished with that path.

Years later, after a marriage ended, Henry found himself alone and unsure of his identity. Instead of rushing into another relationship, he began dating himself. He went to restaurants and movies alone, explored new interests, and learned how to enjoy his own company.

He discovered that loving yourself is not merely positive self-talk. It means sitting honestly with your flaws, accepting responsibility for your choices, and deciding what you want your life to become.

That inner work prepared Henry to reconnect with Danny, the woman he affectionately calls “Love.” Their paths had nearly crossed several times through mutual friends. After months of friendship, one dinner lasted until the restaurant closed—and continued for another two hours in the parking lot.

Their relationship became the foundation for More Than Love Notes and Laughter.

Henry explains that healthy love is not constant agreement, empty niceness, or avoiding difficult conversations. It requires communication, accountability, correction, trust, freedom, and grace.

Henry and Danny recognize that each of them has different strengths. When a decision falls within Danny’s expertise, Henry defers to her. When he makes the final decision, he accepts responsibility for the result. If either person gets something wrong, they examine what happened without humiliating the other or keeping score.

They also give one another space to have difficult days. If Henry needs quiet, Danny does not punish him for withdrawing. When he is ready to reconnect, she welcomes him rather than demanding payment for the time apart.

That experience taught Henry the power of receiving grace—not merely offering it.

The conversation also explores Henry’s transformation from anger to awareness. He eventually recognized that many conflicts began with his own words, reactions, expectations, or unresolved emotions. Instead of blaming everyone around him, he began filling his own emotional cup and giving others only from what genuinely overflowed.

In this episode, you will discover:

• How deafness shaped Henry’s understanding of people
• Why fatherhood inspired him to leave a dangerous path
• How he rebuilt his identity after divorce
• What it means to learn how to love yourself
• Why grace is essential in a lasting relationship
• How couples can make decisions without competing for control
• Why responsibility must accompany leadership
• How Henry learned to recognize his role in conflict
• Why kindness is more meaningful than simply being nice
• How correction can become an expression of genuine love

Henry’s seed for the magic garden is to understand the difference between niceness and kindness. Niceness often avoids discomfort. Kindness carries a sincere desire to help another person become the best version of themselves—even when that requires an honest conversation.

Love does not mean ignoring someone’s flaws. It means standing beside that person as they confront those flaws, while allowing them to do the same for you.

As one of Henry’s friends reminded him during a difficult business season: You cannot pray for strength and then complain about the workout. Growth is rarely comfortable, but difficult seasons often become the ground where the strongest things grow.

Connect with Henry:

Book: More Than Love Notes and Laughter: Hen and Danny’s Guide to Building a Relationship Beyond the Ordinary
Available in Kindle, paperback, and hardcover editions on Amazon

Bring peace and love into your life. When necessary, bring a bat, choose kindness over empty niceness, accept responsibility, extend grace, and hit your sweet spot.

#PeaceLoveAndBringABat #UncleDave #HenryMims #MoreThanLoveNotesAndLaughter #Marriage #Relationships #SelfLove #Grace #Kindness #PersonalGrowth

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BONNIE LIOTTA: CHAMPIONS ARE NOT BORN—THEY ARE CREATED

What if children struggling with cooperation do not need harsher punishment—but clearer guidance, meaningful goals, and someone willing to show them how to succeed?

In this episode of Peace, Love, and Bring a Bat, Uncle Dave welcomes Bonnie Liotta, parenting educator, speaker, and co-creator of Creating Champions for Life. Bonnie shares how a painful childhood, teenage pregnancy, entrepreneurship, personal development, and struggles inside her own home led her to develop a different approach to raising capable, confident, and independent children.

Bonnie grew up feeling unseen and unworthy. Her family home burned down when she was six, her stepfather survived a plane crash when she was 11, and Bonnie found herself carrying adult responsibilities while still a child. She left home at 15 and became a teenage mother while searching for the love and acceptance she believed she lacked.

Her direction changed after answering a newspaper advertisement requiring no education or experience. The job involved selling vacuum cleaners door to door in the freezing Alberta winter.

Terrified, Bonnie spent hours pretending to knock until she finally forced herself to take the first step. She stumbled through the presentation but sold the vacuum and earned $600. More importantly, the company introduced her to Think and Grow Rich and the concept of intentionally setting goals.

Bonnie immediately realized that if she had understood success principles as a child, she might have made different decisions. She promised her father that she would find a way to help children recognize their greatness before age 12.

That mission required years of personal growth. Bonnie became successful in sales and network marketing, eventually building a team of more than 17,000 people and ranking among the top performers in her industry. However, the leadership principles she taught professionally were missing from her parenting.

At home, Bonnie was overwhelmed. Her four children struggled with behavior, anxiety, depression, ADHD, and oppositional patterns. Timeouts, takeaways, lectures, and attempts to force compliance were creating more conflict—not cooperation.

Bonnie would speak publicly about human potential and then cry privately because she felt like a failure as a mother.

Her breakthrough came after meeting Thomas Liotta, who later became her husband. Bonnie watched Thomas communicate with her children using the same goal-setting and leadership principles she used to develop adults.

He asked what the children wanted, helped them create plans, demonstrated the necessary skills, and allowed them to experience the connection between their choices and results. Because the children felt important and understood their “why,” they began participating willingly.

Bonnie realized she had encouraged independence in business while doing too much for her children. She taught professional teams to develop burning desires but gave her children nearly everything they requested without allowing them to earn, practice, or grow.

Together, Bonnie and Thomas developed Creating Champions for Life, a parenting philosophy built around guiding rather than controlling children.

Bonnie encourages parents to identify what their children genuinely want and connect those desires to parent-approved plans. This is different from offering an unrelated bribe. A child who wants a video game, phone, special treat, or additional privilege can learn exactly which constructive actions will help make that goal possible.

The conversation also examines why expectations must be taught before they are enforced. Parents frequently become frustrated when children fail to complete skills they have never practiced. Bonnie recommends role-playing routines such as getting ready for school, making a bed, putting away shoes, carrying groceries, ordering food, or speaking respectfully to an employee.

Children need repetition, feedback, encouragement, and the opportunity to try again. Before someone can become great at a skill, they must be allowed to perform it imperfectly.

In this episode, you will discover:

• How Bonnie’s difficult childhood shaped her parenting mission
• Why one terrifying knock changed her life
• How goal setting helped her overcome limiting beliefs
• Why professional success did not automatically create peace at home
• How leadership principles can strengthen parenting
• Why children need guidance before correction
• How role-playing teaches practical life skills
• Why listening to a child’s desires does not require immediate agreement
• How parent-approved plans build internal motivation
• Why parents must give themselves grace while learning new tools

Bonnie’s seed for the magic garden is this: Champions are not born—they are created through practice, perseverance, guidance, and repeated opportunities to rise.

Instead of parenting reactively, decide what skills your child needs before adulthood. Create a list and teach those skills intentionally. Demonstrate them, practice together, allow mistakes, and adjust along the way. The goal is not merely to raise children who obey. It is to develop adults who believe in themselves and can build meaningful lives independently.

Connect with Bonnie:

Website: https://creatingchampionsforlife.com

Bring peace and love into your life. When necessary, bring a bat, replace reaction with intention, guide your children toward greatness, and hit your sweet spot.

#PeaceLoveAndBringABat #UncleDave #BonnieLiotta #CreatingChampionsForLife #Parenting #PositiveParenting #IntentionalParenting #GoalSetting #RaisingChampions #FamilyLeadership

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ZAC DEANE: THE SLOW WAY IS THE FAST WAY

What if the quickest route to lasting success is refusing the shortcuts that promise immediate results?

In this episode of Peace, Love, and Bring a Bat, Uncle Dave welcomes Zac Deane, entrepreneur, speaker, podcaster, wellness advocate, and creator of the Life Blueprint System. Zac shares how overcoming self-doubt, embracing faith, traveling the world, and choosing purpose over instant gratification transformed his understanding of health, wealth, relationships, and success.

Raised in Australia by four entrepreneurial parental figures, Zac learned early to think differently and solve problems independently. His education at a Rudolf Steiner school emphasized mythology, art, music, movement, nature, and creativity. Although he later struggled to adjust to traditional education, that unconventional foundation helped him develop a broader and more curious view of life.

As a teenager, Zac had little confidence. He avoided public speaking, rarely raised his hand, and spent long stretches playing computer games. His inner dialogue repeatedly told him that he was not smart enough or good enough.

Instead of accepting those limitations, Zac intentionally entered situations that made him uncomfortable. He pursued acting, telemarketing, door-to-door sales, and public communication. Rejection gradually became training rather than evidence that he should remain silent.

Zac eventually combined his interests in entrepreneurship, health, and personal development. He built large network-marketing organizations, including one with approximately 10,000 members, and helped generate millions of dollars in business. That success gave him the freedom to travel extensively and experience different cultures, religions, communities, and definitions of wealth.

Through those experiences, Zac recognized two possible paths.

The first is the path of convenience—quick money, instant health, rushed relationships, immediate pleasure, and shortcuts promising dramatic transformation. It can feel exciting, but Zac found that it often produces instability and chaos.

The second is the slower path of discipline, humility, patience, consistency, truth, and service. It may not provide immediate rewards, but it creates the foundation for lasting health, meaningful relationships, sustainable business, and a purpose-driven life.

“The slow way is the fast way” became one of Zac’s central lessons.

The conversation also explores Zac’s spiritual journey. He did not grow up regularly attending church or studying the Bible. In adulthood, several intense experiences led him to investigate Christianity, faith, good, evil, and the deeper meaning of his life.

As his faith developed, his definition of wealth changed. Wealth was no longer merely money, status, influence, or freedom. It also included strong relationships, family, service, health, integrity, and the positive effect we have on another person’s life.

Zac believes entrepreneurship can strengthen character while helping communities create solutions. Business, however, becomes most meaningful when purpose leads and profit follows. Building something worthwhile requires genuine relationships rather than purely transactional connections.

Uncle Dave and Zac discuss the importance of unlearning beliefs inherited from families, schools, entertainment, and society. Popularity does not make a behavior wise, and social proof does not guarantee truth. Growth requires examining what we believe, deciding whether it still serves us, and choosing our values intentionally.

Goal setting has remained one of Zac’s strongest tools during periods of uncertainty and transition. He develops 10-year goals and works backward into annual, 90-day, monthly, weekly, and daily actions. This process keeps his immediate choices aligned with the larger life he wants to build.

In this episode, you will discover:

• How Zac transformed self-doubt into confident communication
• Why rejection can become personal-growth training
• The difference between convenience and lasting fulfillment
• Why quick fixes often create long-term chaos
• How faith changed Zac’s understanding of wealth
• Why purpose should lead profit
• How travel reshaped his views on family and community
• Why unlearning can be as important as learning
• How long-term goals sharpen present-day decisions
• Why your attention is one of your most valuable resources

Zac’s seed for the magic garden is his Life Blueprint System. Envision where you want to be in 10 years across the most important areas of your life. Then ask whether today’s actions are moving you toward that vision.

If you want a family, are your present choices preparing you for one? If you want health, wealth, meaningful relationships, or a stronger spiritual life, are your habits building those outcomes—or quietly pulling you away from them?

Life does not always follow our plans, but direction matters. Set the vision, remain present, review your progress, and keep choosing actions aligned with your values.

Connect with Zac:

Website: https://zacdeane.com
Podcast: The Breakthrough Moment Podcast
Email: hi@zacdeane.com

Bring peace and love into your life. When necessary, bring a bat, reject the shortcut, choose purpose over convenience, and hit your sweet spot.

#PeaceLoveAndBringABat #UncleDave #ZacDeane #TheBreakthroughMoment #Entrepreneurship #PurposeOverProfit #GoalSetting #PersonalGrowth #Faith #Authenticity

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MATT RAI: YOUR THOUGHTS ARE NOT YOUR IDENTITY

What if mindfulness is not about silencing your mind—but learning to observe it without allowing every thought to control you?

In this episode of Peace, Love, and Bring a Bat, Uncle Dave welcomes Matt Rai, a mindfulness and resilience coach, musician, father, and founder of Schools for Nepal. Matt shares how international experiences, personal loss, neurodivergence, service, and self-awareness shaped his approach to helping people create meaningful inner and outer change.

Born in the United Kingdom to a family of Indian heritage, Matt lived with his grandparents in rural Punjab when he was young. Moving from a privileged British upbringing into a community with fewer resources transformed his perspective. Everyday comforts such as warm showers and refrigerated milk suddenly felt like luxuries.

Matt later lived in Canada before moving to Australia, where he has spent the past 15 years and is raising two children. His experiences across different cultures taught him that perspective changes when we step outside the world we know.

That awareness eventually inspired Matt to establish Schools for Nepal. The volunteer-run charity helps provide educational opportunities in rural Nepal, particularly for girls who might otherwise never attend school. Matt cannot solve every global inequality, but he can act within his circle of influence and help individual communities.

Matt also speaks candidly about losing his mother to a heroin overdose. She had been a successful, compassionate nurse before a series of decisions and difficult reactions to adversity changed her life. Her death reinforced Matt’s belief that resilience is not simply about what happens to us—it is about developing the awareness needed to choose our response.

The conversation challenges popular definitions of mindfulness, meditation, and resilience. Matt believes these words are often repeated without being understood. Mindfulness is not forcing ourselves to think positively or achieving a completely empty mind. It begins by noticing our thoughts without immediately identifying with or judging them.

Recurring thoughts such as “I’m not good enough,” “What if I fail?” or “I’m not worthy” can feel like facts because they have repeated for years. Matt encourages people to notice the voice, say its message aloud, and ask where it appears physically—in the throat, chest, stomach, or another part of the body.

Once we observe a thought, we create separation between the thought and our deeper identity. Instead of saying, “I am not good enough,” we can recognize, “There is the voice telling me I’m not good enough again.”

Matt sometimes invites clients to turn this voice into a character. Who does it resemble? How old is it? Where did it originate? What is it attempting to accomplish? Although the voice may feel destructive, it often developed as an attempt to protect us from rejection, danger, embarrassment, or pain.

Rather than attacking that frightened part of ourselves, Matt encourages curiosity and compassion. Asking, “How is this voice trying to serve me?” can fundamentally change our relationship with it.

Mindfulness must also be practical. Matt helps clients build routines that fit their actual lives. Instead of prescribing an unrealistic hour of meditation, he may begin with five minutes. The individual chooses the time, location, environment, and ritual—perhaps sitting on a bed after the children leave for school and lighting a candle before looking at a phone.

Progress begins by deciding that the practice is worthwhile, identifying potential obstacles, and taking one manageable step.

Matt also discusses being diagnosed later in life with ADHD and autism after his son received similar diagnoses. He explains that ADHD does not necessarily mean someone cannot focus. Many neurodivergent people can concentrate intensely on subjects they find meaningful while struggling with tasks that feel disconnected from their interests.

Purpose matters. When people understand what they genuinely want and why it matters, focus becomes easier. Practical systems, small habits, medication when appropriate, and self-awareness can all help—but meaningful change cannot be forced upon someone unwilling to participate.

In this episode, you will discover:

• Why mindfulness begins with observing your thoughts
• How to separate recurring thoughts from your identity
• Why negative inner voices may be attempting to protect you
• How physical sensations reveal emotional patterns
• Why five intentional minutes can begin a lasting practice
• How ADHD can involve hyperfocus as well as distraction
• Why purpose and passion influence concentration
• How service transformed Matt’s perspective on gratitude
• Why inner change must precede sustainable outer change
• How compassion creates space between stimulus and response

Matt’s seed for the magic garden is to identify your most persistent negative message. Write it down. Notice its voice, age, personality, and physical location. Give it a character if that helps. Then become curious about why it exists and how it may be trying to protect you. You are experiencing the thought—but the thought is not the entirety of who you are.

Connect with Matt:

Website: https://mat Rai.com.au
Name Search: Matt Rai
Charity: Schools for Nepal
EP: Silence As Bombs Fall Down
Music: Available on major streaming platforms

Bring peace and love into your life. When necessary, bring a bat, observe your thoughts, give yourself grace, serve where you can, and hit your sweet spot.

#PeaceLoveAndBringABat #UncleDave #MattRai #Mindfulness #Resilience #SelfAwareness #Meditation #ADHD #Autism #Neurodiversity #SchoolsForNepal #PersonalGrowth

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MARTIN MAYR: FROM CONCERT HALLS TO HOSPITAL WALLS—AND BACK AGAIN

What happens when the physical ability behind your life’s passion suddenly disappears?

In this episode of Peace, Love, and Bring a Bat, Uncle Dave welcomes Martin Mayr, a Canadian neoclassical concert pianist and composer whose remarkable career—and painful road back to the piano—offers a powerful lesson in resilience, advocacy, and hope.

Martin’s professional journey began when he made a $35,000 bet on himself at age 18. He independently produced, filmed, and recorded his first concert, hoping it would attract attention in Canada or the United States.

Instead, a performing-arts agency in China discovered his music online and invited him on a 16-city tour. Almost overnight, Martin went from performing one self-produced concert to appearing on billboards, receiving police escorts, and being surrounded by fans seeking autographs.

By 2019, Martin was performing across 20 cities in 30 days. Then, while returning home from the tour, a hotel shuttle stopped abruptly. Martin flew forward into his luggage, dislocating his left pinky and spraining a finger on his right hand.

For a concert pianist, the accident threatened far more than his next performance. It threatened his career, identity, independence, and reason for getting up each morning.

What followed were four and a half years involving 21 specialists, 233 medical appointments, major surgery, intense pain, and countless unanswered questions. The struggle became even more isolating when the COVID-19 pandemic caused medical offices to close and delayed access to care.

Medication initially concealed the severity of Martin’s injuries. He continued playing because the pain signals were being blocked—but the underlying damage remained. As the medication was reduced, the pain became overwhelming.

Eventually, Martin could no longer cook, drive, shop for groceries, use his phone comfortably, or lift a teacup. Playing professionally was no longer the immediate goal. He first had to find a way to live as a human being without constant pain.

Martin candidly discusses the grief of losing the identity he had built over decades. He describes setting aside “Martin the musician” and focusing on Martin the person. That emotional separation felt like hanging a treasured suit inside a closet, locking the door, and not knowing whether he would ever wear it again.

His search for answers required relentless self-advocacy. When one specialist could not help, Martin found another. A crucial turning point came when a hand specialist recognized that the source of his pain was not actually in his hands. That revelation provided the small glimmer of hope he needed to continue searching.

Martin also learned that musicians should be treated like elite athletes. Their bodies endure thousands of repetitive movements, demanding practice schedules, extensive travel, and long performances. Yet many silently perform through significant pain because the industry often stigmatizes injury.

Recovery required Martin to rebuild from the ground up. He adjusted the height of his piano bench, changed his posture, learned to generate movement from his shoulders instead of overworking his hands, and incorporated warmups, cooldowns, stretching, nutrition, rest, and intentional self-care.

Martin eventually returned to the piano and released Solo Piano Collection, featuring 16 pieces from throughout his career. The collection includes “New Beginnings,” the first piece he wrote and performed after returning to the instrument.

Its artwork carries equally personal meaning. The cover features a sunrise Martin painted during art therapy after being asked to imagine what life might look like on the other side of recovery. Together, the painting and composition represent the new beginning he once struggled to believe was possible.

In this episode, you will discover:

• How Martin’s $35,000 gamble launched an international career
• Why one accident led to more than four years of treatment
• How chronic pain affected his career, identity, and mental health
• Why musicians should be viewed as elite athletes
• How self-advocacy helped Martin find the right medical team
• Why the source of pain may not be where it appears
• How small physical adjustments transformed his playing
• Why recovery must begin with manageable steps
• How art therapy inspired “New Beginnings”
• Why sharing your struggle can help someone feel less alone

Martin’s seed for the magic garden is simple but courageous: Share your story. Being the first person to stand up and admit that you are struggling can be frightening, but it gives others permission to stand beside you. Sometimes saying, “I’m struggling too,” is enough to remind another person that they are not alone.

Connect with Martin:

Website: https://martinmayr.com
Music Website: https://martinmayrmusic.com
Facebook and Instagram: @iammartinmayr
Music: Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, and Tidal

Bring peace and love into your life. When necessary, bring a bat, advocate for yourself, hold tightly to hope, speak up, and hit your sweet spot.

#PeaceLoveAndBringABat #UncleDave #MartinMayr #NewBeginnings #SoloPiano #ConcertPianist #ChronicPain #Resilience #MusicianHealth #SelfAdvocacy #MentalWellness

SANDY COHAN: BUILD THE MINDSET TO BECOME UNSHAKABLE

What separates high performers from everyone else when pressure rises, failure hits, or the plan falls apart?

In this episode of Peace, Love, and Bring a Bat, Uncle Dave welcomes Sandy Cohan, former hockey player, coach, bestselling author, global speaker, and founder of Mental Edge Hockey. Sandy explains how athletes, leaders, and everyday people can strengthen their mindset, perform under pressure, and maximize their potential.

After his playing career ended, Sandy spent years coaching professional, collegiate, Olympic, and youth hockey players. He eventually realized that physical talent alone does not separate good performers from great ones. The missing piece is often mindset.

Sandy identifies seven essential qualities: belief, attitude, grit, focus, emotional control, discipline, and self-awareness. These are not emergency tools used only when something goes wrong. They form the foundation beneath everything a person wants to accomplish.

Adversity eventually reaches everyone. Sandy believes parents and coaches should not try to prevent every fall. Their responsibility is to teach young people how to get back up. Falling does not automatically mean failure, and failure does not define someone. The important question is: “Now what?”

High performers do not necessarily forget difficult moments or completely “get over” them. They learn how to move through them. Instead of remaining trapped in disappointment, they identify the next useful action and return their attention to what they can control.

Sandy also explains why success must be clearly defined. Moving through life without a target is like getting into a car and driving without knowing the destination. The target may change, but having direction allows us to evaluate our progress, adjust our behavior, and recognize meaningful victories.

Perfection, however, is a dangerous target. It often grows from fear of judgment, criticism, and how others see us. Rather than chasing a flawless outcome, Sandy encourages people to pursue progress and become one percent better every day.

True focus does not mean blocking everything out. It means locking in on the right actions. Outcomes matter, but we cannot always control them. We can control our preparation, effort, discipline, attitude, decisions, and response.

The conversation explores the important relationship between belief and confidence. Sandy compares confidence to the visible portion of a tree and belief to its roots. Without strong roots, the tree cannot remain standing. Confidence grows when we remember previous successes and create a mental highlight reel of times when we performed well.

Thoughts are not facts. A fearful thought does not prove that something bad will happen. Instead of constantly asking, “What if I fail?” Sandy suggests considering the opposite possibility: What if it works? What if this becomes your best decision, performance, or opportunity?

Elite performers practice pressure until their responses become familiar. Michael Jordan missed more shots than he made. Alex Ovechkin became hockey’s greatest goal scorer while failing to score on most of his attempts. Their success came from continuing to shoot, trusting their preparation, and focusing on their actions instead of obsessing over statistics.

In this episode, you will discover:

• Sandy’s seven foundations of a powerful mindset
• Why adversity should be navigated rather than avoided
• How high performers reset after mistakes
• Why focus means locking in—not merely blocking out
• How belief creates lasting confidence
• Why thoughts should never be confused with facts
• How practicing pressure creates dependable responses
• Why actions and behaviors matter more than outcomes
• How to distinguish between what you want and what you need
• Why youth sports should develop better human beings

Sandy’s seed for the magic garden centers on self-talk. If you would not say something cruel or destructive to another person, do not say it to yourself. Correct the mistake, learn from it, and prepare for the next opportunity—but do not become your own worst opponent.

Ultimately, Sandy is not simply developing better hockey players. He wants to help build stronger human beings who believe in themselves, manage pressure, enter future locker rooms and boardrooms with confidence, and maximize their potential wherever life takes them.

Connect with Sandy:

Website: https://sandycohan.com
Mental Edge Hockey: https://mentaledgehockey.com
Instagram: @sandycohanofficial

Bring peace and love into your life. When necessary, bring a bat, doubt your doubts, keep shooting, and lock in on the next right action.

#PeaceLoveAndBringABat #UncleDave #SandyCohan #MentalEdgeHockey #Mindset #MentalPerformance #Confidence #Focus #Resilience #HighPerformance

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KATE MARKLAND: WHEN ONE HOUR A WEEK BECOMES AN UNBREAKABLE STORY

What can a mother and son build when nearly everything is taken from them except one weekly conversation?

In this deeply personal episode of Peace, Love, and Bring a Bat, Uncle Dave welcomes Kate Markland, former physiotherapist, business consultant, author, and founder of StoryQuest. Kate shares how an agonizing separation from her son, Gabriel, unexpectedly led them to create an Amazon bestselling children’s series—and a storytelling method now inspiring children around the world.

Kate spent years running physiotherapy clinics before selling her final practice following the 2020 lockdowns. She then began helping other clinic owners understand what she calls the “anatomy and physiology of a business.”

In 2023, Kate and nine-year-old Gabriel left a difficult personal environment to stay with a friend. According to Kate, what followed was a nationwide search, police intervention, family-court proceedings, and the traumatic removal of Gabriel only days before his tenth birthday.

Kate recounts watching officers take her barefoot son from the house and place him inside a police van. She says she was not told where he was being taken and later discovered that court proceedings had occurred without her participation. Eventually, she was allowed only one hour of FaceTime contact with Gabriel each week.

Faced with a system she believed was unwilling to hear her, Kate made a decision: she would not quit, and she would use every available minute to protect her relationship with her son.

At first, Kate read illustrated books to Gabriel during their weekly calls. Storytelling had always been central to their family. Gabriel loved bedtime stories, audiobooks, and creating adventures, while Kate grew up listening to her grandfather recite poems and monologues.

After several months, Kate asked Gabriel a simple question: “Shall we make up a story where you’re the hero?”

Gabriel immediately began creating a world filled with extraordinary characters and adventures. Kate became his scribe, recording his ideas without correcting or restricting his imagination. During each call, she read the previous story back to him, invited his edits, and helped him continue.

After approximately eight weeks, they had created six short stories. Kate organized everything into a Word document merely to clean up her desktop. When Gabriel saw it, he recognized something she had not yet seen.

“Mum, it’s a book.”

They published The Adventures of Gabriel, which became an Amazon bestseller. What began as a way to preserve their connection became a larger mission centered on children’s creativity, confidence, identity, and self-leadership.

Kate realized that her storytelling process mirrored her work as a physiotherapist. Instead of listening for the story behind someone’s pain, she was listening for the worlds inside a child’s imagination. The storyteller speaks freely, a partner acts as the scribe, and the story is read back so its creator can expand and refine it.

Kate brought this process into schools. Hundreds of children—including reluctant writers and pupils with different learning needs—were invited to become heroes in their own stories. By separating imagination from the pressure of spelling, grammar, and the blank page, StoryQuest allowed children to focus on one task at a time and discover that their ideas mattered.

The stories have since gained attention across the United Kingdom, India, Pakistan, Canada, the United States, and Argentina. Kate believes children’s stories can cross educational, cultural, and political borders that adults often cannot.

In this episode, you will discover:

• How Kate transformed weekly FaceTime calls into a bestselling series
• Why listening without correcting unlocks a child’s imagination
• What “Mum, it’s a book” taught Kate about believing children
• How storytelling helped Kate and Gabriel survive separation
• Why every child deserves to become the hero of a story
• How oral storytelling removes barriers for reluctant writers
• Why creativity can build confidence and self-leadership
• How children’s stories can cross borders and create connection
• Why resilience sometimes means refusing to quit

Each book reflects another stage of their journey. The first centers on perseverance. The second introduces a resurrected dodo named Hope and explores the return of hope. The third examines identity and freedom from the prisons, labels, and limitations imposed by others.

Kate’s seed for the magic garden comes from Rudyard Kipling’s poem “If,” which her grandfather repeatedly recited to her. She never imagined how deeply she would need its lessons decades later. Her message is a reminder that oral stories, poems, and words planted during childhood can become sources of strength when life demands everything we possess.

Connect with Kate:

Website: https://storyquestglobal.com
LinkedIn: Kate Markland
Book Series: The Adventures of Gabriel

Bring peace and love into your life. When necessary, bring a bat, never stop listening, refuse to quit, and give every child the freedom to tell their story.

#PeaceLoveAndBringABat #UncleDave #KateMarkland #StoryQuest #TheAdventuresOfGabriel #ChildrensBooks #Storytelling #Resilience #ChildrensVoices #SelfLeadership #NeverQuit

To support us:

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https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peace-love-and-bring-a-bat/id1552738547

CHIP SCHOLZ: SMALL DECISIONS CREATE BIG SHIFTS

What if changing your life does not require one enormous breakthrough—but a series of small, intentional decisions made every day?

In this episode of Peace, Love, and Bring a Bat, Uncle Dave welcomes Chip Scholz, executive coach, speaker, author, woodturner, husband of 42 years, and proud father of three daughters. Chip shares lessons from nearly three decades of coaching leaders, working with family, recovering from a stroke, embracing creativity, and learning when leadership requires letting go.

After being laid off from a corporate position in California in 1998, Chip and his family moved to North Carolina. He knew he wanted to work for himself, but he arrived without an established network or local reputation. The first five years were difficult, yet one speaking opportunity at a Rotary Club introduced him to the warehousing and logistics industry.

That connection led to regional and national conferences, assessment work, leadership programs, and executive-coaching relationships around the world. Chip has now spent more than 20 years working within logistics and has led one client’s leadership program for 17 years.

Chip explains that careers rarely follow straight lines. His guiding phrase is “Semper Gumby”—always flexible. Plans change, opportunities disappear, and unexpected paths open. The key is remaining flexible enough to change direction without abandoning your values.

That flexibility became essential after Chip suffered a stroke in 2012. Although he does not want the stroke to define his story, it became a pivotal moment. His wife gave him a lathe for Christmas, introducing him to woodturning. Working with spinning wood demanded concentration, movement, patience, and creativity while helping him rebuild his cognitive abilities.

Recovery also required daily action. Chip initially could not walk around the block, but he began making the decision to put on his shoes and walk. Over two years, he walked approximately 3,500 miles and lost 110 pounds. The transformation did not come from one heroic act. It came from repeatedly choosing the next right action.

That philosophy inspired his book Small Decisions, Big Shifts. Chip reminds listeners that every decision leads toward an outcome. The routines of work, family, school, and responsibility can create a whirlwind that consumes our attention. Meaningful change begins when we intentionally make room for what matters most.

Uncle Dave and Chip also explore delegation, succession, and why many leaders hold on too long. Chip says fear is natural, but leaders must name it, understand it, and discuss it honestly. Delegation requires trust, humility, and the willingness to accept that another person may accomplish the goal differently.

Leadership eventually requires a shift from doing to being. Early in our careers, we are rewarded for personal performance. Once we lead others, our responsibility becomes developing people, communicating outcomes, and giving someone else the same opportunity once given to us.

Chip believes strong leaders do not need to be the smartest people in the room. They surround themselves with capable people, listen to different perspectives, and remain focused on results—as long as the methods remain legal, moral, and ethical.

In this episode, you will discover:

• Why small daily choices produce major transformations
• How Chip rebuilt his life after a stroke
• Why woodturning became part of his recovery
• What “Semper Gumby” teaches about flexibility
• Why delegation is fundamentally about trust
• How identity can prevent leaders from letting go
• Why leaders must move from doing to being
• How honest coaches and mentors expose blind spots
• Why curiosity helps us continue growing at every age
• How storytelling can transfer wisdom without controlling others

Chip also discusses his books Every Dog Has Its Day: Reflections on Life, Love, and the Lathe and Small Decisions, Big Shifts. His upcoming fiction book, Handoffs, explores an aging owner, his adult son, family-business succession, control, identity, and the difficult process of passing leadership to the next generation.

His message is clear: Get over yourself, remain curious, trust capable people, and make the small decisions that move you toward the life you want. You may not control every turn, but you can choose how you respond.

Connect with Chip:

Books: Small Decisions, Big Shifts
Every Dog Has Its Day: Reflections on Life, Love, and the Lathe
Upcoming Book: Handoffs

Bring peace and love into your life. When necessary, bring a bat, stay flexible, remain curious, and make the next right decision.

#PeaceLoveAndBringABat #UncleDave #ChipScholz #SmallDecisionsBigShifts #Leadership #ExecutiveCoaching #Delegation #StrokeRecovery #Woodturning #SemperGumby #Curiosity

To support us:

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https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peace-love-and-bring-a-bat/id1552738547

NANCY DEYO: WHEN PUSHING THROUGH STOPS WORKING

What happens when the determination that created your success becomes the very thing causing you harm?

In this episode of Peace, Love, and Bring a Bat, Uncle Dave welcomes Nancy Deyo, former Silicon Valley CEO, writer, speaker, resilience advocate, and longtime champion for women and girls. Nancy shares how business failure, a devastating injury, 15 years of chronic pain, and opioid dependence forced her to redefine resilience and rebuild her identity.

Nancy was the CEO of Purple Moon, an innovative technology company created to help adolescent girls become comfortable and competitive with computers. The company combined software, internet experiences, collectibles, and books designed specifically for girls.

Nancy built a team that was approximately 94 percent women and believed in hiring the smartest people possible. However, her leadership example came with a cost. She worked longer, pushed harder, and measured herself by how many goals she could surpass and how much she could endure.

When Purple Moon began running out of money, Nancy sold it to a competitor she considered an archrival. Although others viewed the sale as an accomplishment, Nancy experienced it as a personal failure. Determined to prove she could still achieve something meaningful, she decided to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.

Two weeks before the climb, Nancy injured her back. Instead of stopping, she compartmentalized the pain and continued. Her team eventually fashioned a back brace from duct tape and an inflatable pillow. At 16,000 feet, she collapsed in a tent, unable to move her legs and feeling as if a steel rod were being driven through her spine.

That moment exposed the danger in the strategy that had guided her life: pushing harder could no longer solve the problem.

The injury began a 15-year struggle with debilitating chronic pain. Nancy spent years lying down beside a supply of opioids, grieving the athlete, CEO, wife, and active person she had once been. Even after surgery repaired the original damage, her nervous system remained sensitized, creating a cycle of pain, fear, isolation, and declining function.

A pain-rehabilitation and detoxification program attempted to remove the medication and rapidly restore physical activity. Nancy’s body could not tolerate the aggressive approach, and she entered the hospital unable to walk and requiring even higher doses of opioids.

Nancy finally recognized that the medical system had done what it could. Her survival required a different strategy: listening to her body, respecting its limits, releasing the person she used to be, and directing her remaining energy toward what was still possible.

A therapist encouraged Nancy to accept a “new normal.” Nancy hated the phrase until she understood that acceptance was not surrender. She did not have to give up; she needed to stop fighting herself long enough to move forward.

Unable to sit in a classroom, Nancy enrolled in graduate school and attended while lying on an army cot. During orientation, she told her classmates, “I’m good with it, so you can be too.” Months later, those classmates challenged her description of herself as a disabled chronic-pain patient. They saw a capable contributor who simply happened to work lying down.

Nancy realized that her limitations affected her—but did not define her.

She eventually traveled by purchasing three airplane seats so she could lie down, returned to meaningful work, strengthened her body, regained function, and completed a careful yearlong opioid taper under the care of a compassionate physician.

In this episode, you will discover:

• Why pushing through is not always genuine resilience
• How professional failure can damage identity and self-worth
• What Mount Kilimanjaro taught Nancy about listening to her body
• Why accepting a new normal is not the same as giving up
• How Nancy attended graduate school while lying on a cot
• Why chronic pain patients can feel blamed or dismissed
• How medical bias may affect women’s treatment
• Why our roles and limitations should never define our worth
• How focusing on what remains possible can reopen a life

Nancy’s seed for the magic garden is to separate yourself from your professional roles. Titles such as CEO—and labels such as chronic-pain patient—may describe part of an experience, but they are not your complete identity. Determine what is true, stay aligned with your body and mind, focus on what you can do, and take the first step before you feel completely ready.

Connect with Nancy:

Website: https://nancydeyo.com
Substack—Life Inside Pain: https://nancydeyo.substack.com

Bring peace and love into your life. When necessary, bring a bat, bring awesome thoughts, listen to your body, remain authentic, and hit your sweet spot.

#PeaceLoveAndBringABat #UncleDave #NancyDeyo #LifeInsidePain #ChronicPain #Resilience #Identity #WomenInLeadership #OpioidRecovery #NewNormal #Authenticity

To support us:

https://davidchametzky.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@davidchametzkyNOW

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peace-love-and-bring-a-bat/id1552738547