Margie’s Insights & Interviews
Welcome to Margie’s blog where she shares personal stories, interviews, tools and more for living bravely.
Choose Growth Over Comfort
Last year I was invited to interview Sir Richard Branson on his private Caribbean island. A career highlight for sure! Fortunately for me, "Just call me Richard" is incredibly down to earth person who quickly puts people at ease around him. Phew. During our interview...
Kilimanjaro: Testing your limits expands them
When our guide came by our tent shortly after 3 AM to wake us up to begin the climb up Mt Kilimanjaro I’d already been awake for some time. The sleeping bags we’d rented for our week hiking to the rooftop of Africa weren’t quite up to the sub-zero temperatures so...
Marianne Williamson: Don’t run from pain
Life can be painful. This may sound like a pretty negative thing to say but having had numerous painful periods in my life, I believe so much suffering people experience comes from trying to avoid it. Which is why I'm excited to share with you my recent conversation...
Focus on what brings out your best
Let’s face it, life will never be exactly as you’d like it to be. Or not for long anyway. There will always be things you'd like to be different. To have less on your plate or more certainty about your future. To have fewer bills to pay or more support from your...
Underestimating yourself? Dare to dive in!
"Most people live in a restricted circle of their potential." William James I’ll never forget where I was the day that a mental image change the direction of my life. It was March 2002 and I was laying on a beach south of Cancun, Mexico, doing a visualization exercise...
Don’t spread your stress! Sage advice from Kathy Calvin, President, UNF
During my recent trip to Washington D.C. I sat down with Kathy Calvin, President and CEO of the United Nations Foundation whose job it is to steward over $1 billion dollars entrusted to the UNF. Kathy and I discussed an issue we are both passionate about - women,...
Lift as we climb… up Mt Kilimanjaro
"So what would be your ideal way to celebrate your 50th birthday?" I asked my husband Andrew earlier this year. "Go on a safari with my family in Africa," he replied. My fourteen-year-old son Ben piped up from the couch where I'd assumed he was in a Youtube trance....
Embrace Change, Risk Mistakes: My interview with Bill Marriott
"It's by embracing change and risking mistakes that you get ahead." ~ Bill Marriott One of the things I most love about my work is the people I get to meet. So it was a huge honor to be invited into Marriott headquarters to interview J.W. "Bill" Marriott, who has...
#TalkToMe: Dad’s wisdom on life, love & loss
At eighty year of age, my dad's had his share of hard knocks, from losing a son after a long battle with mental illness to supporting another adapt to life in a wheelchair. Yet while I'm clearly biased, I believe he's one of the most loving and loveable men you'd ever...
Don’t hide behind technology
Communication technology. It's the best of tools when used well. It's the worst of tools when it's not. Last week I received a 'not-very-nice' email from a man who didn’t like my reference to Donald Trump in my recent blog. He wrote, and I quote, “You should be...
Is unconscious bias derailing your decisions?
A few months back a friend shared how she was on the fence about hiring a man for a role as a financial advisor because he was 60 and seemed ‘a bit old’ despite being imminently qualified. I encouraged her not to let his age deter her from taking him on if he was the...
Richard Branson: My Time With The Man Behind The Brand
“Every risk is worth taking as long as it’s for a good cause and contributes to a good life.” - Sir Richard Branson Maverick. Risk taker. Rebel. Trailblazing tycoon. Billionaire buccaneer. Adventurer. Disruptor. Sir Richard Branson has been called all these and many...
Hope Is A Risk That Must Be Run
In recent months I’ve spent time with several people going through a tough time and struggling to hold on to hope and stay optimistic. Depression is tapping at the door of a few. I know there have been times over the years I’ve felt that way myself. When my brother...
Stop selling yourself short!
Last week I facilitated a two-day communication communication workshop with a global tech company. I’ve run lots of workshops over the years but when I was approached on this one last December, I was a little tentative. The seventeen people flying in from around the...
Less hate, more humanity
"When we are no longer able to change a situation - we are challenged to change ourselves." Viktor E. Frankl, Holocaust Survivor "What's the good of hate. It only ruins you," Saba Feniger said to me as she recounted her arrival at Auschwitz and surviving the Nazi...
Grow Your Kids Muscles For Life
Let me begin by saying that I am not an educational specialist, child psychologist, school counsellor, ex-teacher, parenting expert or athletic coach. However as a mother of three teens and one 'teen-wannabee', I often see parents get a little (or lot!) too...
Slipped Up? Now Get Up & Stay The Course!
It's mid January. Far enough in to the new year that some people have already fallen off the band wagon on their new year resolutions. If you're one of them, commiserations. Just know this: you aren't alone. I resolved late last year that I was going to write in a...
Be Intimidated By No-One
Not long ago a woman in her 40s approached me after a speaking at her company’s annual conference to ask my advice on how to have a ‘courageous conversation’ with a colleague. After our conversation she said, “Before we talked I’d been quite intimidated by you. I...
Don’t Major In Minoring
Ask many people how they are and they'll quickly give you an answer that's something like this: "Busy. Really busy." I mean, who isn't right? Being being has become synonymous with being of value. The busier you are, the more important you must be. But the reality is...
Who Will You Be In 2016? #ThreeWords
As one year draws to an end and another one begins, there's often a lot of talk of 'resolutions.' Habits people want to start, or end. New goals. Fresh starts. All good stuff. However I think we often get the cart before the horse. You see, if you keep being the same...
