Barry Shore:

I cannot think of anybody that inspires noble deeds that I want to share with you more than the amazing, wonderful, magical, Miri Rodriguez.  

Miri Rodriguez:

Hi, how are you? I’m so happy to be here.

Barry Shore:

Fantastic. Miri, say hello to 368,226 people around the world. 

Miri Rodriguez:

That’s a lot of people. Hi, everyone. It’s amazing to be here. Thank you, thank you for having me.

Barry Shore:

You’re more than a special being. As everybody can see, she’s not just attractive in the physical she is a soul that attracts people. She is a being that literally channels good energy wherever she is. And if I start telling all the wonderful things about Miri it would take the rest of the show. So, I’m just going to say three wondrous things right now. Miri is the ultimate storyteller. Matter of fact, I could embarrass her greatly if I say the next two words so I have to think first. By the way, Miri, when was the last time somebody said, FU to you and you laughed?

Miri Rodriguez:

I can’t remember that. I think you just taught me a brand new FU. I’m learning from you.

Barry Shore:

So, remember, FU capital N capital N, fun because she is fun. So, Miri is an amazing storyteller. Matter of fact, it’s hard to say this but her gig is that she is the Chief Storyteller, the head of the whole storytelling department for a small company up in the Northwest part of America called Microsoft. Yes, Microsoft. In addition to that, Miri is an author who literally is changing the lives of business people with her amazing book, which we’ll talk about. And she’s also a woman who is Latina and facing the ultimate test in health through breast cancer. But that is an introduction. Let’s just jump right in and start talking. Miri, what is it about storytelling that literally changes your life and animates you? Let’s go really deep into this whole idea of storytelling. It’s as old as humans. What is it?

Miri Rodriguez:

Barry, thank you for having me. I’m so excited to be here. And to everyone who’s listening, thank you, as well, for tuning in. I have to say, I’m not the chief storyteller, I’m one of the storytellers at Microsoft, there are many of us there. I actually just took a new role and a newly formed team at Microsoft digital called Story-core, which we’re going to be focusing on the future of work for storytelling. It’s incredible. Two of us, two storytellers sitting in this team, and we’re going to be telling those stories, which is really exciting because we’re all focused on what the future looks like, very much so through tech. And for me, stories are the one tool, is the one thing that connects humans at the core level, at the heart level, and nothing else does that, nothing else. No type of communication will ever do that at the level of stories do. Because we drive it with heart, with empathy, with the human connection. And I think it’s even more important today. You say we mentioned we’ll be doing this to the dawn of time. But as time progresses, we’re seeing this integration of robots, technology, digital, virtual, and phygital, which is the metaverse that we’re speaking about today, where robots come in, the AI experience is integrated into the physical experience. All of these things that are happening in our world today are basically breaking down communication from human to human. And stories will continue to be the one thing that can bridge that gap and can connect us. You started talking about your old story, you began introducing yourself with a story, who you are, and what happened to you. And that is an immediate breakthrough of now, I know who Barry is, and I know what he’s about because of his story. And so, we’re able to present ourselves in this world of digital, virtual, robots, AI, and machine learning, and really come through us humans and the human condition and where we are and who we are through stories, nothing else will do that but stories.

Barry Shore:

So, let me unpack a couple of things. Because again, people are listening all over the world, Miri. To be blunt, Microsoft touches people all over the world. This show, thank God, is touching people all over the world in smaller numbers. But in China, India, and throughout all of Asia, Latin America, Africa, which you have a great connection to we’ll talk about that later, throughout the United States, and every place that the internet touches. And this fascination with the integration of one of the same time the future of work, which is what you want to talk about with stories. Because now we’re going to make them up in a way. And like you said, I think it was genius. One at the same time is a connecting tissue, and yet it separates also because the whole idea of robotics, artificial intelligence sounds like it’s non-human, and yet we, the ultimate humans, we are hard, we are core, and we need to embrace and relate with each other. And the only way we can do it is through a story. That’s what you’re telling us, right? 

Miri Rodriguez:

That’s what I’m telling you. There was an experiment done by Facebook a few years ago, where they actually had two machines, two robots talking to each other, and they wanted to understand what happens because the machine learning aspect of it means that they have the capability to learn and keep iterating faster than a human can. Because they don’t have to go to the bathroom, they don’t have to sleep they don’t have to eat. 

Barry Shore:

Wait a minute they don’t go to the bathroom. 

Miri Rodriguez:

They do it just works. And so, these two machines were talking to each other and they developed, they encoded slang language. So saying, what’s up? What’s up is slang language. It means, how are you doing? It’s an idiom. And so, they began to talk to each other in idioms and slang, and within minutes they actually developed their own language that humans do not understand. And so, we’re seeing this. It was really incredible to see how machine learning and AI, the robots will surpass us in their capacity of communication at a level faster, or even translation of languages. But the connection is not communication. Connection is a deeper thing that we need as humans, it is a core integrated need of our humanity of our human race.

Barry Shore:

Oh, this is so powerful what you just painted with your picture. By the way, this is what you just did. With words, you can paint and create images so I was thinking. By the way, when I was thinking of robots speaking to each other, I’m thinking of this sort of gigantic metal lumbering thing. And yet, it’s not. They probably were laptops that were…

Miri Rodriguez:

Yeah, computers.

Barry Shore:

You’re dating yourself, it’s not tobor. By the way, do you know what a robot is it comes from a 1932 movie that was called the Revolt of Tobor? So, it was a Hungarian who made the movie and tobor was what he did because it’s robot backward. What you’re saying is so important is that no matter what is happening in the world, no matter what mechanisms, machines are going to speak to each other and to for us, whether it’s the robot, what is that thing that cleans your house?

Miri Rodriguez:

The iRobot. I have one. Those are the best, the Roomba. 

Barry Shore:

And you like it?

Miri Rodriguez:

I love it, so good.

Barry Shore:

But at the same time, there’s a disconnect because that’s doing what it needs to do so it frees me as a human to connect more deeply to the other humans in my life.

Miri Rodriguez:

That’s exactly right. If we allow technology to serve us we can move away from the minutiae of the day. Allow them to take over the content pieces of communication that are transactional. But then we get ourselves to communicate at the human level and strive to continue that connection that we’ve always wanted to have. If you look at technology, and why technology has existed or the why of technology since the dawn of time, it’s to connect, to communicate with each other. Though human beings have always wanted to do that. There’s this need for us to continue that communication at a human level. And so, we get to do that a lot more when you automate a whole lot of other stuff, and then we allow ourselves the time to do this kind of stuff. You and I connecting and connecting with millions of people around the world who maybe live here, hundreds of thousands, and then millions around the world when they connect here and see this content. So, it is an opportunity for us to share our messages, share who we are, share our hearts. And that is really how we learn. This is how we learn through stories. This is the only way to learn, it’s through stories.

Barry Shore:

It’s so powerful because we know that things are happening at a pace that I think was never seen before in the history of humanity. So let’s take a simple idea though and unpack it a bit. Because with this communication, we have now the ability to spend more time together. So how is it, and I say this with somewhat deep regret being able to even say the words, that you can have a family sitting around a table and yet everybody is texting on their phone to other people?

Miri Rodriguez:

And I think about that a lot. I think about just the access that we get in our hands to connect with the world. And what is that doing and how do we get to leverage that technology? I often say to that, that we get to control our time, we get to control our space, and we get to control the technology. Don’t let technology control you. If you know that it’s taking time away from where you should be or how you should be progressing or the goals that you have, whether they’re physical goals, mental goals, spiritual goals, if technology is intruding instead of leveraging, helping you get to the goal then it’s no longer serving you the way that it’s supposed to. So evaluate that. Technology is so wonderful because we can connect to someone, family members that are probably in different countries, especially through COVID-19, we saw just the power of how we could connect through technology, the wonderful power of technology. Yet we allow it sometimes to serve us and take away from us. So, assess your technology and how you’re using it. We are in full control of our world, of our hours, of our time. I often say you are the CEO of your life. You’re the CEO of your SEO, which is search engine optimization. So, be sure to own that don’t let it own you. And that’s when you get to place parameters and boundaries everywhere with it so that it can serve you best.

Barry Shore:

This is remarkable because some of the words that you’re saying here, again, you’re painting great pictures, you are a master artist. And it’s just such a delight and a pleasure to have you here, Miri that the same words were taught to me when I was much younger by a very wealthy person who happen to be my uncle, extremely wealthy. And he taught me something, I think I was 9 or 10 years old, I didn’t register for another decade or more. But he said money is wonderful. It’s fabulous when it serves you. But if you let money become your master it is a very tough…. you will become addicted to it. So, I think you’re saying something similar with tech here. In other words, it’s incumbent upon us or me as the human to recognize that my most valuable asset is my time. And my most valuable essence is my core as you’re saying. Core heart. Is that correct?

Miri Rodriguez:

That’s correct. And I would even say not just an asset, [unintelligible: 22:33] currency because once it’s gone, it’s gone. And so you don’t get it back. Any other currency you have you can probably re-establish it, reiterate it, even money. But time doesn’t, time is gone. As soon as you wake up. We all woke up today, and we were gifted these hours that we’re living right now. We don’t know what’s going to happen in the next hours. We don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. So we don’t own it, every time it’s a gift. And then it’s a currency that is so valuable for that reason that we need to master ourselves and be able to accept the gift of time and really leverage it and invest it in the best possible way.

Barry Shore:

Would you like to hear a nice acronym for time?

Miri Rodriguez:

I would love to. I love all your acronyms. I don’t know how you make these up.

Barry Shore:

Time stands for, thinking it’s miraculous every day. 

Miri Rodriguez:

Yes, it is a miracle. 

Barry Shore:

Thinking is miraculous. And you said, become the CEO of your life. Now, CEO in my world acronym stands for chief example officer. 

Miri Rodriguez:

Perfect. 

Barry Shore:

Again, in your situation. So Miri is typical and atypical. Typical, thank God, she is a mother, two sons, and a dog. You still have the dog, right?

Miri Rodriguez:

My dog passed in April but I’m still his mom. He’s in heaven. All dogs go to heaven.

Barry Shore:

So she’s an example to her immediate family. And therefore, if she picks up her phone, and she’s texting not talking to other people that’s going to rub. So, she’s the example when you become the chief example officer for yourself, your family, your friends, now you can influence the rest of the world because it’s what you do not so much what you say. You need to have them in concert. That’s the heart. That’s the core. So, let’s just move a little bit to wonderful Miri and talk about this fascinating idea of the future of work. Because when you’re talking about the future you can make up anything. So, how do we make up and talk about the future of work in the most positive, purposeful, powerful, pleasant way? What is it that you’re doing to orient the many tens of hundreds of thousands of people who work at Microsoft, and then influence millions, if not billions of people around the planet?

Miri Rodriguez:

That’s a great question, Barry. I think we need to start with the idea that the future is being driven by consumers, by people, it’s no longer organizations or I would even say government who are driving where it’s going. We have entered this phase of being driven by necessities and wants that people are demanding, and so no longer are people consuming what they don’t want, they are being very specific about how they’re going to live their lives. And this is impacting organizations, it’s impacting governments, it’s affecting policy. We’re seeing trends for the future of work for 2022, where technology is going to be driven by ecological changes. So, people are very keenly aware of how we are expanding our planet and what we’re doing to our planet. And so, a lot of ecological and eco-friendly technology, product and E-commerce, you’ll see a lot more of that. We’re seeing a lot of the metaverse, so not Facebook as a name but what we actually call the metaverse, which is this combination of physical and digital universes coming together to drive an experience for consumers, for people, for students, in any sector that we’re seeing it AI will enable this idea that you can integrate technology to become part of your everyday life, not something that you just turn on and turn off, it’s going to be a continuous lifestyle idea that you can integrate, and you can actually drive your own experience. So, this is going to be a way that you, we’re talking about how we decide technology, how you are the CEO of your life, this is going to be a really great indication that people know they have this power, today consumers you and I have this power to change systems to drive new policy, and how we’re going to do that needs to be a collective effort. Because what we’re also seeing is this individualism. Because before policies were driven for the common good, or for the general public, if you will, we are coming out of a very sensitive and charged community that has seen racism, injustices at the highest level, it has always been. But I think with technology we’re able to see, even more, explore those ideas even more throughout the world. So, technology has helped us understand globally what it is that we’re doing to each other, for each other, why we’re doing this. And then those things are going to be individually driven but need to become collective so that we can actually make changes, head in the right direction. And so, trends will be ecological, trends will be AI-driven, we’re going to see the integration of robots probably deliver groceries and deliver Amazon packages or that kind of thing. So, we’re going to see a lot more of that happening. And then we’re going to see experiences, people are going to want to drive their own experiences. We saw through COVID-19. And we’re seeing now what we call the great resignation or the great shuffle. This is an idea that people are saying, I don’t want to go back to work. I’m going to go and open up my own business. I have a laptop, I have the internet, and I can. And so you can E-commerce is a big deal.

Barry Shore:

Those two words… let’s work with two, three-letter words. You can.

Miri Rodriguez:

Yeah, you can. 

Barry Shore:

I’m going to make a bold assertion here. COVID was a scourge. It was horrible. And yet, the unfolding of the process seems to be a huge boom for real people. In other words, I’m conscious now of my time, we said. Time, thinking is miraculous every day. And I also say time stands for teaching is miraculous every day. Do you know why? Because I think that it is miraculous every day. I know that it is. So, when time becomes my greatest asset, why should I want to work, or be in a place where I’m not giving of my all and enabling me to participate? And you’re saying Miri, tech allows everybody to say, yes, I can.

Miri Rodriguez:

Yeah, it does. It allows you, it empowers you. When we look at 100 years ago, the roaring 20s, I’m actually comparing it to now because it did the same thing. People came out of the Spanish flu, specifically here in America, and it awakened people’s souls to say, what are we doing? How are we doing this? Why are we doing this? And you saw changes in minority groups and females wanting to come out and talk about the right to vote. And so, this awakening happens historically every single time when we have a tragedy, such an incredibly powerful tragedy, the global pandemic that we’re still experiencing. It wakes us up and it says, what are we doing? We’ve been on autopilot for how many years? We need purpose, we mission, and we need to be driven by a mission. And so, if I don’t have I’m going to go find one because people have died. I’m not going to die without a purpose. So, it really awakens the soul and brings us back to the nature of who we are as humans.

Barry Shore:

On that wonderful note, hold on, everybody. We have sponsors that love us. We’re going to take a short break. There’s more Miri coming back. She is absolutely amazing. We love her. And get ready everybody, there is more coming your way right after these brief messages.

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Barry Shore:

Good day beautiful, bountiful, beloved immortal beings, and good-looking people. And you’re good-looking because you’re always looking for and finding the good. We have good in abundance. Our cup runneth over with good. And the human being named Miri Rodriguez is so wondrous and so much more to share with us. We’re going to go deep into a couple of things and her personal life in just a moment. I want to just mention that Miri has been talking about the integration of technology and life. We are your own CEO, your chief example officer, you know that time is your most valuable asset. Thinking is miraculous every day. She also mentioned that it’s going to be eco-friendly, we’re going to be all working together to make the planet a better place. That is the core of her mission. She’s driven because it’s heart-oriented. Heart stands or helping everyone achieve remarkable transformation. That’s the essence of wonderful Miri. We’re going to go deep down in something Miri. And it’s because you’ve shared it with me and you shared it on LinkedIn with others that recently you were diagnosed with something called BRCA type 1. I think you pronounce it Broca. 

Miri Rodriguez:

BRCA. 

Barry Shore:

BRCA, and it’s a form of cancer.

Miri Rodriguez:

It’s not a form of cancer. It’s a mutation. It’s a gene mutation that puts you at high risk for cancer. So, a lot of people that have cancers they’re tested for the mutation and they do end up having the mutation. I did not know that I had this mutation. It was not out of the diagnosis of cancer. It was a routine checkup. And my doctor decided based on the intake form to test me genetically and found the gene. So it is an inherited gene. People that have this gene, famous people would be Angelina Jolie. Her mother passed away from breast cancer. She herself has the gene and she was able to proactively remove all of the reproductive systems that would give her cancer. So basically, BR is breast, CA is for cancer. But actually, it affects not just the breast it affects all of your reproductive systems in men and females as well.

Barry Shore:

So it’s a marker that you are more susceptible to than the general public. It would have been a highly.

Miri Rodriguez:

Way more susceptible. The percentages are high, and each individual is different. So my percentage was 78%. And so, that means that by the time I hit 50, I’m 43, I would have developed cancer of some form, and it would be metastasized immediately because my system because of the mutation cannot protect me from developing the cancers.

Barry Shore:

So, I’m going to say something because we know each other, we’ve met each other, we’ve embraced, we love each other. This gives you pause. This also enables your mission to be supercharged. Because you recognize the value of the moment of each passing moment, and that you want to be the best you possible. Is that correct? Is that what’s going on now?

Miri Rodriguez:

100%. So, I just came back from a six-month leave from work. And I spent this time I’ve gone through four procedures. In my case, they did find in both breasts pre-cancer cells. So everything was removed. Everything was removed from my ovaries. So, I had a full hysterectomy, I’m having a double mastectomy. So all of it removed. Lumpectomy, biopsies, all of it. And when you talk about the pause, everything paused. I said to a friend yesterday, I think I was going on a bullet train. And you don’t even know how fast you’re going because you’re in it. And then when you step out of it, you’re like, whoa, you’re trying to get back in and you’re like, I don’t even think that I could get back into that. So, it absolutely causes a moment in time for you just to pause from all levels spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally you pause, and you reflect. And I can tell you, Barry, you and I met years ago, I am not the same person I was even at the time. I am absolutely someone new. Someone evolved from this entire experience, for sure.

Barry Shore:

And when you say not the same person, and I’m saying this with deep respect and love, a higher level being.

Miri Rodriguez:

Absolutely. 

Barry Shore:

See, the genius of what you’re doing is that you’re recognizing it, approaching it, I’m going to say interesting enough, embracing it in the sense that this allows you to now rethink, rework and create the kind of world you want to live in. We talked about it before, create my 8-year-old niece, causing rethinking, enabling all to excel. You’re touching millions of people. I’m urging everybody to share this particular session with five people, just five people. That means we’ll touch a million and a half people. Because Miri’s story is not just Miri’s story. See, that’s what we’re talking about storytelling. I’m going to use two four-letter words, and you’re going to be shocked what I’m about to tell you but get ready and I’m going to tell you what it means. Are you ready? 

Miri Rodriguez:

Okay.

Barry Shore:

Miri is a porn star. What did Barry say? Because what does porn star stand for? 

Miri Rodriguez:

Please tell me. 

Barry Shore:

Porn is power of related narrative. Star, storytelling, arousing response. 

Miri Rodriguez:

I love it. 

Barry Shore:

Because that’s what you’re doing. You are sharing with us the most intimate part of your being on the human level. And at the same time, you’re talking about the future of work on the global level. And you talk about the idea of eco and kind. Kind stands for keep inspiring noble deeds but it also stands for connect in nature daily. So, when you got off that bullet train I’d be willing to wager that you spent a little more time connecting in nature daily.

Miri Rodriguez:

100%. You would have won that wager. I actually took a couple of trips just to be… I fasted from everyone and everything for a few weeks. It’s not that I was never doing that before, I am. I’ve always been on a mindful journey. I do yoga, I practice. And so, I was not far removed from the idea of connecting with myself and connecting with nature. I think what changed for me is that I used to protect my energy, and now I preserve it. And that’s different. That’s much different. Because protecting it, I’m like, here’s my time, here are my people, here’s what I do, and putting all these boundaries, which are great. And that is what we should all be doing. But preserving is understanding my energy work, the source, where it comes from, how I spend it, how I invest if it if I’m investing it or not, and where and whom, and on what. How my body responds to what, how my mind responds to what, how do I keep that energy flowing so I’m not exhausted at the end of the day. And that’s preserving energy. And that was something that I didn’t know until I went through this. And one thing I have to tell you, Barry, by me going out and talking about my journey, so many people, so many men, and women reached back out that I know and that I had no idea had gone through something like that or we’re going through something similar with the same gene. So many people have this gene, and nobody talks about it. And now I know so many people that do because I shared my story. That is the power of storytelling. It took me a while to share this publicly, I went through a few months of just myself and my close ones. We didn’t know what the journey would look like. It was very scary. And then when I felt a little bit better throughout the journey I decided I’m going to share this out with people. Because if I do it creates that awareness and people can see my journey, and through my journey, they can see the resiliency. They can see that I’m going out to war, battle by battle. And so, the importance of vulnerability also was active, actively present for me. I knew it conceptually, and I am someone who is vulnerable in essence. But this was a very deep, vulnerable time in my life. A very deep one. And I shared it. And I’m so glad I did.

Barry Shore:

We are all glad that you did and are doing. Share by the way is a great acronym. It stands for spreading happiness and rejuvenating energy.

Miri Rodriguez:

I love it. That’s a great acronym. I love how you have these. I don’t know how you remember them all. But it’s wonderful.

Barry Shore:

But that’s what you do, you share. You are an inclusive being. And I think we should spend some time talking about inclusion and such. Again, what you just did and you talked about your journey. Journey is an interesting word by the way. Everybody knows how to spell it but I’ll just spell it out. J-O-U-R-N-E-Y. Take the first two letters of journey, JO, and the last letter and you have the word joy. The middle part spells you are never-ending. That’s what your journey is. You are never-ending joy. When you’re sharing something as intimate as your physical challenge you are literally promoting the ability for people to confront, overcome and share with others. Again, spreading happiness, rejuvenating the energy. The power of related narrative is what you’re about. So this amazing story. So let’s talk about inclusion as you mentioned. Women, beautiful women, Latina, inclusion, what’s happening with let’s say Microsoft because it’s a tip of the spear. It’s one of the most famous, one of the most wealthy companies in the history of humanity. So, what is it that Microsoft is doing to reinvent and reset itself and reimagine itself in the future of work?

Miri Rodriguez:

Yeah, a lot. I can tell you, we’re probably not going to have a lot of time here to talk about that. But I’ve been intricately involved in conversations around Microsoft’s spirit to really empower, our mission is to empower every person in our organization, on the planet to achieve more. And I should say, I’m speaking from my experience. I’m not a spokesperson for Microsoft but I do work there, I’ve been there almost 10 years and I’ve seen the transformation from the inside out of the company who really, really wants, with empathy to empower every person. And when I look at that mission, I look specifically at my own journey and how Microsoft empowered me. I’m coming out of this leave, they were completely supportive 100%. Every person reached out to me, every person offered love and support, and I felt so loved. And then I came back, and I was like, you know what, I don’t think I want to come back to the same role I was in before, I think I want to do something that makes me happy that kind of aligns to where I am today in my career, and my face coming out of something that was so transformational as was the surgeries and this journey that I have been on. So I’m coming into a new team, I’m coming into a new phase. And that’s what they’re doing. So, they’re looking at people with empathy. They’re looking at people like people. They’re reminding us that we are humans. It’s not about the technology, it’s how the technology empowers each human, and we are all human. And so, there’s this empathy aspect of how we dive into the technology that really changes the outcomes and the output of that technology. It’s not just transactional. It’s really considering with empathy how this is going to work for everyone in the world. If we have to empower the world, we have to look like the world. So it has to be diverse. It has to have intersectionality. I often give the example about cars as the technology. Henry Ford invented the car. And clearly, it was by a man to a man. And today, we still see the effects of that so many years later because I still have to get into a car. I’m small-framed, and I have to push my seat all the way up, and I’m almost by the wheel. This is 2021. And then so if I get into a car accident and I hope I don’t but if I do the airbag it won’t deploy in time, I’ll probably hit my head first. Because even to this day the crash parameters for the dummies are still based on a male figure. And so today, no empathy in technology. That’s a clear example of no empathy of someone like you who has a disability, of someone who’s small, of someone who’s shorter. So, cars were not made for people like you and me. So, that’s the kind of thing that we have to think about when we have to what I call encoding empathy into the technology that we build, really thinking about the output of that user experience at the design level and saying, when this product is finished, when the service is finished, does it truly encompass the world? Does it serve the entire world?

Barry Shore:

This is so wonderful, you use the word think. Oh my gosh. I call it to harness insightful neural connections. That’s what think is. So, the ability to think ahead and to recognize. Let’s take your example of the automobile. Well, yes, it was designed for and built for, and still today, 100 plus years later, for a male in a certain body and size, etc., etc. But, hello, it’s not a car, it’s a transport system. Now, how do we make the transport system work for, let’s say, a woman? She may want a different thing. And maybe you can even have cars built to spec. Because we are so efficient at what we do because the robot knows what could be. But as you said so genius, if you take the company called Microsoft, let’s think about the people using the tech. In other words, when you build empathy then your output will by definition become empathetic. So, when you use the word transactional so when people hear the word business they sort of freeze up, business, business, okay, no. Business is both what I call T and T. Transactional, and transformational. Yes, there is, of course, transactional. If you have a product or service that you want people to have because it’s to their advantage, well, then there needs to be some sort of mechanism for people to acquire it. We call that money, currency, whatever it is. But it’s really based on transformation. When you acquire this particular product service it’s going to help transform that which you’re about. I chose to have this particular automobile or this particular service, this particular program because it transforms my life for the better.

Miri Rodriguez:

That’s right, it makes it better, correct. And that’s the idea. The idea is that again, we leverage technology for ourselves. We don’t let it own us. We own it, we manage it, we leverage it and we make it work for us. We make it service. And that’s the mastery. That’s the mastery of self. We master ourselves and we understand what we want, what we don’t, and how we leverage systems, processes, institutions, organizations to work for us.

Barry Shore:

It’s so wonderful when you hear this remarkable being, who was going through her own personal situations, and at the same time now is on a higher plane able to really touch worldwide because she has adopted herself into a new role. And the organization that she is part of has not only said yes, but it has also welcomed her and growing her new role, which is in charge of the idea of the future of work. What is the core? What is the heart? Therefore by definition, building empathy into certain tech tools. That’s amazing. You put the zing in amazing kid.

Miri Rodriguez:

And that’s self-advocacy, which is something that I learned through this journey was my health, I also learned holistically, physically, I was going to go through something but also emotionally, personally, mentally, it takes to your entire being. And so, I had to advocate for my well-being. I had to advocate for what doctors I was going to choose, what experience I wanted. This world is changing. That’s what I’m talking about, the future of work. It’s the future of life. It’s the future of the lifestyle. I found myself interviewing doctors. I had a list of doctors and I had questions for them. It’s no longer what you’re saying to me, listen to what I’m saying to you, what I want, what I need, this is my body. And you’re going to touch it or not depending on how I assert that you can or you can’t. And so, it’s a really powerful thing to own yourself, to master yourself, and allow medicine technology systems, all of it to serve you in the best way that you know for your own mission, for your own health, for your own body. That’s where we are today. And that’s so powerful. My mom didn’t have that. My great-grandmother didn’t have this. We have this power today. And we need to embrace it and advocate for it more and more.

Barry Shore:

We are all deeply touched and thankful, Miri that you’re sharing all of this with us. There are a couple of things I want to mention about Miri, which we don’t have time for in this particular session, and it’s something that she writes about, and I love it. She says, she can run in high heels.

 

Miri Rodriguez:

It’s my superpower. I love it.

Barry Shore:

But you can see it. If you have the benefit of watching this then you’re animated even more. If you’re only listening to it you can hear it in her voice that is her superpower. And her superfood of course is ice cream, which is the ultimate human experience. I mean, eating ice cream is a savor. That’s high-tech. The real high-tech is ice cream that doesn’t add any fat or calories.

Miri Rodriguez:

I work out just so I can get the calorie count. So I can have the ice cream, which is a terrible thing to say. But it’s the truth. I have at once. It’s Sunday, Sunday is what we have in my house. Sunday, Sunday. We order this savory down the street and we get our ice cream. It’s a one-cup but one cup is all I need. And it’s my happy place. It really is.

Barry Shore:

But it’s so fun what she’s saying because you see, this is part of owning your being. The most important words as you know, Miri anybody could ever hear are not the words from the radio, from the internet, from the phone or anything else, or from people around you, it’s self-talk. You’re going to like this, self-talk stands for recognizing that you are a soul experiencing life fully, teaching, always love, and kindness. That’s what talk. That’s who you are, you’re animated. You’re the essence of it. This is wonderful. We’re not going to talk about Africa right now. I want to talk a little bit more about the future of work. But I’m going to tell you our time is, at this point, short. There are three questions I want to ask you, and then we’ll bid adieu to our hundreds of thousands of listeners who are applauding all over the world. So the first question is wonderful, Miri. Are you ready? 

Miri Rodriguez:

Yeah. 

Barry Shore:

Will you come back again?

Miri Rodriguez:

Please, have me back and we can talk about Africa, which is always in my heart.

Barry Shore:

Number two, you have 80 seconds only to answer this question. What is your most fervent desire?

Miri Rodriguez:

What a great, great question. It is my most fervent desire that every one of us can learn to hone in the power that we have within the cosmic power that we have within to own our story and tell that story. You have it, it is in you. And if you don’t tell it somebody else will. And it’s not going to be the story that you want. Own your story, own who you are, own your essence and share that with the world. Imagine if we all at the dawn of 2020 when the global pandemic hit, would have taken a notebook and written our own story. This is going to go down in history. Children and future generations will read about it. But they’ll only read what historians wrote, and not our own stories. We all experienced something deeply disturbing and deeply tragic to each of us. For many levels. Some of us lost our loved ones to this, some of us lost ourselves on so many levels, and lost our jobs. And so, we were all impacted on so many levels. The stories that will go down are the ones that we tell. And so, tell your story because we can learn from each other. What you’ve gone through teaches me and what I’ve gone through teaches you and that is the best way to pass down values, and leave your mark in the world and your history, leave your legacy. If you want to be immortalized it will be through your story. So, learn to tell your story, design it in a way that it’s formatted with a purpose, with a mission for people to leave a mark in this beautiful world that we have and that we can enjoy.

Barry Shore:

Own your story. And the third question is may I give you a hug in front of [crosstalk: 56:25] people around the world? Let me tell you what hug stands for. Heartfelt, unlimited giving. Here we go 1-2-3 roar.

Miri Rodriguez:

Love it. Wonderful.

Barry Shore:

You’ve been listening to The Joy of Living with your humble host Barry Shore and our amazing, wonderful, fabulous, enchanting, enchantress named Miri Rodriguez. And we urge everybody, remember this show is not about Barry Shore, even though he’s a great guy. It’s not even about Miri as wonderful she is, it’s about you, Y-O-U. You becoming the best you possible. Own your story because when you’re the best you possible, you make the world a better place, you create more bridges, more harmony, more joy, happiness, peace, and love in the world. And remember, if you use the three fundamentals of life number one life, your life has purpose. Number two, when you lead a purpose-driven life you can go mad. Mad stands for make a difference. Lead a purpose-driven life, make a difference. Number three, unlock the power and the sequence of everyday words and terms. When you do this, you’ll be happier, healthier, and wealthier, under every day [unintelligible: 57:40] www what a wonderful world. Smile, see miracles in life every day or as my eight-year-old niece says, see miracles in everyday life. Create the kind of world you want to live in like Miri did. Create the kind of world causing, rethinking, and enabling all to excel. Use four-letter words like love, life, hope, free, grow and tell the world F U capital N capital N. When people ask you, we listened to Barry Shore The Joy of Living, he wants to teach people to F U capital N capital N. And use the two most powerful words in the English language three times a day, consciously and conscientiously, and they are thank you. Thank you. Thank you to harmonize and network kindness. Wonderful, fabulous wondrous, Miri, thank you so much. And [crosstalk: 58:30] to everybody. Miri, don’t go away.

Outro  

Thank you for listening to this episode of The Joy of Living Podcast. Now, that’s another step towards your healthier, happier, and wealthier life. Never hesitate to do good in the world no matter what the situation. Join us for another upbeat discussion next time at barryshore.com. And be sure to leave a rating and subscribe to the show to get more conversations like this. And remember to share it with your family and friends, too. See you on the next episode.