Welcome to Making Good Choices, Episode 9! My guest for this episode is Art Allen: Some of you might know him as the founder of The Beard-Off and Pundamonium, and he recently opened Modern Antics, a comedy novelty store, and The Riddle Room, an immersive puzzle room experience. I sat down with Art to talk about the road he traveled on that led him to creating and running his own novelty business.

LINKS!

@Punsultant

Riddle Room

Modern Antics

WSJ: It’s Punderful Life For Competitive Wordsmiths

Photo Credit: Danielle Pugliese

Welcome to Episode 6 of Making Good Choices with Amber L. Carter! In this episode, I sit down with my pal Danielle, a globe-trotting, dog-loving, designing woman who’s got tons of warm wit, incredible insight, and illuminating experiences to bring to the table when it comes to talking about lifestyle design. Danielle and I talk about our feelings when it comes to goal-setting vs. setting intentions based on core desires; failing forward in the workplace; making good choices when you find yourself in the midst of a sucktastic company culture; and being assertive with the opposite sex, even if you live and date in one of the most passive-aggressive regions in the known world.

Coupl’a corrections:

It’s SMART goals, not START goals

The mind is a discounting mechanism (not a disqualifying mechanism)

Things mentioned in this episode:

The Desire Map by Danielle LaPorte

Spirit Junkie by Gabrielle Bernstein

Welcome everybody to Episode 8 of Making Good Choices! My guest for this episode is my pal Tony. We have kind of a fun history and tend to bond a lot on the adventures of online dating, so I thought I’d invite him onto the podcast to lend his guy’s perspective on everything from Valentine’s Day, online dating profiles, and even weddings.

To give you a hint of what you’re in for, here’s the bio that Tony submitted for the podcast upon request:

Anthony spent a lot of years driving a fork lift and consorting with car thieves. After realizing he wasn’t cut out to be a wheel man he began training at a prestigious welding academy. Upon graduating magna cum laude, he found a job repairing garbage trucks. He quit after throwing a hammer at a coworker. He missed. Then Anthony took a job doing corporate welding in a suburb. After doing his Christopher Walken impression he was asked to join the Fun Committee. He has since perfected the art of welding spoons into insect shapes. He is happy.

Welcome to Episode 7 of Making Good Choices! In this episode, I sit down with my pal Emily Bourne Allen (@emilysaysso) to get real about the stuff we all wonder about when we – and/or our friends – are getting ready to grow a family. We talk about the childhood lessons that we hope to (or hope not to) bring to our own parenting styles; how not to be a jerk to someone who’s expecting (PSA: STOP putting your hand on stranger’s bellies!); the value in supporting your fellow women in their childbirth and baby-raisin’ choices; how to navigate and respect the grief of miscarriage (for both yourself and those you love); and how to love and accept yourself even after you become the lame parent you always said you’d never be!

Welcome to Episode 5 of Making Good Choices!

Our guest for this episode is one of my favorite people, the hilariously wonderful Jenn Schaal. Jenn is a stand-up comedian (don’t you ever dare call her a comedianne) and one-half of the most excellent XOXOJK podcast. In this episode, we relive our college days, fight about New Kids on the Block, gossip about reality TV stars, chat about Jenn’s experience with Last Comic Standing, discuss her love/hate relationship with Open Mics, tackle the challenge of staying balanced in the face of creative endeavors, and walk down the road of Jenn’s journey with Solcana CrossFit.

Pertinent links:

Jacinda Barrett and Chris Hardwick

Sean Duffy and Rachel Campos-Duffy

C.T. Tamburello and Diem Brown

Solcana Crossfit

Hannah Wydeven

I AM ST. PAUL!

For more of the awesome Jenn Schaal, check her out on Twitter at @JennSchaal, and follow her blog posts with Solcana Fitness here.

Welcome to Making Good Choices with Amber L. Carter, Episode 2! (We made it to 2, you guys! Give yourself a hand, everybody, we did it. Great job)

My guest for this episode is Jeremy Nilson (@fripfropjer). Jeremy is a man of the north insofar that he wears flannel in a non-ironic way. He is a contributor to the Remakers Mark podcast, runs two different Nerd Nites and is usually far busier than he should be.  Elsewhere, Jeremy feels strongly about Star Wars, has redefined Foosball, and speaks in movie quotes without realizing it more than should be admitted. He is fascinated with Abraham Lincoln, Scooby Doo, and zombies. If you want to play a boardgame, he’ll play. And win.

Shiz we talked about in this episode:

• Inside Nerdist’s Empire for the Internet Age
• How 50 Cups of Coffee Can Change Your Life
• Nerd Nite Duluth
• Nerd Nite Twin Cities
• 7 Strange Questions That Help You Find Your Life Purpose
• Jessica Lindgren, Gal Friday 612

Welcome to the inaugural episode of Making Good Choices! My very first podcast guest is Lacy Clamer, a 26-year-old interior design professional from the Northwoods of WI. In this podcast, we talk about making good (see: bad) choices when it comes to dating party boys, drawing up relationship contracts, being intimidating vs. approachable, having potential run-ins with exes, calling off weddings, and basically thinking we’re much smarter than we actually are when it comes to all of this stuff.

Shiz mentioned in this post:

• Jen Declines You
• Bayfield Apple Fest
• Nerd Nite Duluth
• Ignite Minneapolis
• Nerd Nite Twin Cities
• I’m Okay, You’re Okay – Nerd Nite MN Episode 3 (Amber’s Nerd Nite Duluth talk)

Corrections:

Full (and correct) Ann Lamott quote:

“You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.”

― Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

In reference to Taylor Swift, I mentioned “No, it’s Betsy”, when the correct reference is “No, its Becky”.

PS: The audio is a little quiet in some parts of this episode, but you have to start somewhere, right? From Episode 3 onward things are going to sound much better. Thanks for listening!

Welcome to Episode 3 of Making Good Choices with Amber L. Carter!

Meg Marie Thue is the Co-Owner and Photographer of The Emenee Studio, alongside her husband Erik. She enjoys drinking copious amounts of coffee throughout the day, lounging around in her jam jams and perusing the latest home renovation blogs.

So yeah. She’s pretty cool.

She’s also one of my favorite pals + my fellow Girl from the Northwoods, and in this episode, we chat about what it takes to make it anywhere…”it” being your dream creative project or business. Meg has become known for her pin-up and boudoir shoots, having been the photographer for Northwoods-famous The Real Women of Namakagon Calendar and The Dapper Dozen Men’s Calendar. She also recently shot the album work of famed musician Molly O (formerly Molly of Molly & The Haymakers + Molly & The Danger Band), and her and husband are fast becoming The Go-To for engagement and wedding photography. Thus, Meg has a lot of great stuff to speak on when it comes to the art and war of knowing your value, anxiety over pricing, getting your name out there, and how to keep on keepin’ on in the face of not-so-great clients and skeptics.

You can find Meg over on Instagram at MagWagMarie, check out her and her husband Erik’s photography over at Emenee Studios, and follow them on Facebook here.

Welcome to Making Good Choices, Episode 4! It’s a Mega Friendship Episode!

In this week’s episode, I sit down with my best friend of 21 years (that’s more than half my life!), Katy Roskam Sekar, to talk about making good choices when it comes to being a friend. We also discuss what it’s like to hop on the Struggle Bus when it comes to have a prettier, more popular friend than you, the challenge of dealing with a friend’s velcro boyfriend, understanding depression though the journey of friendship, the glorious adventure of being a teenage Christian (and then growing up to be a not-so-Christian adult), and why you should never accept a shot from your waiter while vacationing in Resort-Town Mexico.

Basically, we go real deep, then pull ourselves together with some Adam Sandler quotes (which was basically just like our whole entire high school experience!).