ALL THERE IS

Counterculture advice to leaders and non-leaders: Go All In. 

Just because corporate environments have an imperfect history or toxic track record doesn’t mean you should respond with an apathetic approach to your career.  Of course you shouldn't tolerate hostile work environments, discrimination or harmful leaders.  And yes, you can and should expect market-based pay in exchange for meeting work expectations and doing the job you were hired for. That is your baseline. 

Heading down the lazy, winding path of least resistance and fostering ambivalence about the work that you do will not ultimately lead to satisfaction or happiness. We all want our work to matter. We need to know that showing up day after day means something. People see you and how you show up, even when you don’t feel it. I promise you. Regardless, do it for you. 

Visit www.kellybargabos.com to listen to all past episodes and/or connect with Kelly.

Season 3 is coming soon! To get ready, in this episode I share a highlight reel from the top five listened to Podcasts of season 2. 

Episode 69: The Way of Hope with Mark Haywood
Episode 50: Homelessness in America in Scene and Story
Episode 60: If Wishes Were Eagles
Episode 58: Thriving with chILD
Episode 47: Chasing the Merry-Go-Round

Thanks for being such faithful listeners. Tune in. Share. Subscribe. Let's make Season 3 the best one yet. 

Visit www.kellybargabos.com to listen to all past episodes and/or connect with Kelly.

Life moves fast. Too fast for some.

November is Homelessness Awareness Month. On any given night in America, more than 500,000 people are experiencing homelessness. 70% are individuals living on their own or in the company of other homeless adults. 30% are families with children. The great majority of homeless are men or youth boys, and almost half of the population is unsheltered and living in situations not fit for human beings. (“State of Homelessness Report 2021.” www.endhomelessness.org)

The thing is, we know there is no silver bullet, no single answer or even two or three things that will solve the problem of homelessness. The causes are many and complicated, multiple and complex, and range from mental illness to addiction, from disabilities to lack of affordable housing, from a history of racial injustice to the system itself.

For my brother it was a story of what it was like to keep up in a world that moved too fast.

Visit www.kellybargabos.com to listen to all past episodes and/or connect with Kelly.

November is Homelessness Awareness Month.  On any given night in America, more than 500,000 people are experiencing homelessness. 70% are individuals living on their own or in the company of other homeless adults. 30% are families with children. The great majority of homeless are men or youth boys, and almost half of the population is unsheltered and living in situations not fit for human beings. (“State of Homelessness Report 2021.” www.endhomelessness.org)

In this episode I share my personal experience with homelessness when my brother ran away from home and lived on the streets for five years. 

Visit www.kellybargabos.com to listen to all past episodes and/or connect with Kelly.

The older I get the more I appreciate watching old people do just about anything. I think it's because I realize more and more how long and hard life is and if you have a certain number of years behind you and you still find a way to get up everyday, put one foot in front of the other, and still smile and connect with people you encounter...you are my hero.

This episode is dedicated to the ones who keep going. The battle-scarred, the weary and worn, yet vibrant, alive and still finding a reason to keep on.

Visit www.kellybargabos.com to listen to all past episodes and/or connect with Kelly.

What does it take to change the world? Hope. 

Marvelous Ways International, a nonprofit organization founded by Mark and Christin Haywood, is on a mission to give hope, to invest hope, to inspire hope and to lift the lives of kids who come from very dangerous and impoverished communities in developing nations around the world.

They go where kids are in danger and address longstanding and complicated societal issues--which is no small task. MWI believes that we should not accept the current conditions that many young people face as "just the way it is," but instead, disrupt the cycle of poverty and violence that has become the norm. 

Borders exist to control us but shouldn't stop us from being connected or extending HOPE.

If you have the means, visit their website and give to this mission to change generations to come. Make way for Hope. 

www.marvelouswaysint.org

Visit www.kellybargabos.com to listen to all past episodes and/or connect with Kelly.

Livier Lazaro is the first female Commander of the Don Diego VFW Post 7420. I met her in June 2023 on a random Thursday night and will never be the same. She opened my eyes to the issues affecting hundreds to thousands of US Military Veterans who have served our country, and then due to a series of circumstances, become deported and exiled from the Country they love so much they were willing to die for it. This ought not to be so. Tune in to find out what is happening so you can be informed and speak up on their behalf.

www.lulac.org
www.bdva.us

Visit www.kellybargabos.com to listen to all past episodes and/or connect with Kelly.

It's not what you think. Common misconceptions and stereotypes will tell you that all our teams want is more pay, less work, and more vacation time. But is that really what people want to find work life balance? Tune in to this episode to find out 3 ways you can find the sweet spot of work life balance for you and your teams.

Visit www.kellybargabos.com to listen to all past episodes and/or connect with Kelly.

As we celebrate Father's Day and the men in our lives who've had impact and influence, let's be sure we let them know that we need them and the gifts and talents we bring to this world. Even and especially with all their cracks, for this is how the light gets in. And we need their light.

Visit www.kellybargabos.com to listen to all past episodes and/or connect with Kelly.

As we commemorate and remember all those who paid the ultimate sacrifice on this Memorial Day, let's also consider those outside our country who are so desperate for Freedom, they too are willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice for them and their families. As Americans, we have the ultimate privilege of not experiencing the same desperation for freedom as some from other countries. But freedom is freedom. Could I convince you to listen all the way to the end and take a moment to consider these questions? 

Visit www.kellybargabos.com to listen to all past episodes and/or connect with Kelly.

Mother's Day is one of those days filled with power and the potential for joy and celebration as well as pain, sadness, regret and longing.  As women, we are all somewhere on the motherhood spectrum...we have mothers, some of us are biological, step or god mothers to children, some of us care for and nurture four-legged fur balls, and some of us nurture and mother our friends or co-workers.

I don't know much or even close to everything I should, but I do know this: your motherhood status, whatever it may be or whatever state it is in, is NOT the only thing that defines you. You, Me, We, are so much more than that!

So,  regardless of the choices we've made or where we're at in our journey, let's take this Mother's Day to support, encourage and be kind to each other. Happy Mother's Day.

Season 1 episode 22 also has another take on Mother's Day. Take a listen if you missed it.

Visit www.kellybargabos.com to listen to all past episodes and/or connect with Kelly.

As we age, we tend to focus on how our body and appearance is changing with a negative perspective, forgetting all that our bodies have done for us throughout our lives. What if we could change that narrative and remember all the work, all the pleasures, all that we have survived? What if we could realize that no matter what we look like on the outside, the same spirit that got us this far, is still there? 

In this episode I talk to my mom who is turning 80 on May 7th and have her read one of my essays, When I Look in the Mirror at 80. She is cool, calm and collected as she approaches another year of life. I hope she inspires you as she has me all these years. 

Visit www.kellybargabos.com to listen to all past episodes and/or connect with Kelly.

One of the major themes of Chasing the Merry-Go-Round was the idea of home and Bobby's lifelong dream to own his own place. Unfortunately, for so many years, we all thought it was going to be out of reach for him. Until now. Sometimes things happen that you never saw coming and it creates opportunity and answers that you asked for so long ago you forgot you ever asked.  When I first published this story, Bobby asked me to buy him his own house if and when the book "went platinum." Of course, I always agreed that yes, we'd get him his own house if that ever happened. Well...book sales are a difficult thing and alas this little story never "went platinum." But that's okay...I know the people who need the story and the lessons in it will find it, and Bobby found his home another way.

Never give up.

Visit www.kellybargabos.com to listen to all past episodes and/or connect with Kelly.

Revolution is a short story based on the longer work, Flower Power. 

Flower Power is a one-act  social commentary that explores greed and our lust for money, versus our right to live. Follow the main character, Charlie Miller, as she is forced to choose between her career and the parents who've been there for every moment of her life. 

https://www.sandiego.gov/decameron

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Inspired by the Scottish proverb and nursery rhyme, “If wishes were horses, beggars would ride,” If Wishes Were Eagles is a daydream brought to life with lyrical and vivid words. My intention is for it to be a picture book illustrated by the one and only Craig Anderson, artist and husband of mine.

 If Wishes Were Eagles is filled with timeless messages and lessons of hope and possibility. The reader/listener enters a wondrous world full of beauty, marvel and mysteries, and learns that when you’re in trouble, you fly high, and when you’re lonely, you reach out, when you’re sad, you look for splendor in nature around you. Finally, the ones you call family are your haven of rest, and love is what holds us together until the end. This is a wise, wistful tale and you can’t help but smile when you hear it.  Let me know what you think!

Visit www.kellybargabos.com to listen to all past episodes and/or connect with Kelly.

Maybe it’s because I was born in the summer of love, 1967, but I’ve always envied hippies and sometimes wondered if it was too late to become a Hippie?

I think what I was really asking was, can I become a person who is free-spirited and unencumbered by what others think or societal norms and expectations?

I recently saw the new movie, Jesus Revolution,  which not only brought up my fascination with Hippies, but also reminded me of the time when the Jesus Revolution saved my family.

To me it makes perfect sense that these two cultures collided in such a powerful way. Hippies were searching for truth, love, peace where all are welcome as they are. Jesus offered all of those things, and still does.

Tune in, drop out and see if there's anything that resonates with you.

Visit www.kellybargabos.com to listen to all past episodes and/or connect with Kelly.

Breathing is something that most of us take for granted on a daily basis as our body automatically does what it was designed to do. However, for babies and children with chILD, the  struggle to breathe can require so much physical exertion that they often fail to thrive without medical interventions. 

Tune in to hear this mother's journey and how she fights every day to give her children the opportunity to live their best lives through medical interventions, community, finding joy in the little things and protecting her kid's feelings, hope & dreams along the way. "When you see the tubes, look past them. Smile and say hello."

Children’s Interstitial and Diffuse Lung Disease (chILD) is not a single disease. Instead, it is a group of rare lung diseases found in infants, children, and adolescents. There are different types of chILD that vary in their severity and in their long-term outcomes. In simplest terms, all types of chILD decrease a child’s ability to supply oxygen to their body. Early diagnosis and treatment is important for any form of chILD. If you suspect your child has chILD, consult a pediatric pulmonologist with expertise in chILD. www.child-foundation.org

Visit www.kellybargabos.com to listen to all past episodes and/or connect with Kelly.

Life changes in a moment. A match is lit and tossed, falling just right on the combustible rubble we ignored. And as it burns, everything we thought we knew, counted on, waited for, believed in—shifts. Just enough to let us know we knew nothing. Tune in to share this human experience

Visit www.kellybargabos.com to listen to all past episodes and/or connect with Kelly.

Successful career woman by day, more Bridget Jones at night, Kelly is determined to carry on as if nothing has changed when everything has. After her husband of almost twenty years walks out of their home leaving behind his slippers, toothbrush and a closet full of clothes, Kelly navigates her out-of-the-ordinary stages of grief using a new mantra along with, beer & nachos, crown royal & Mad Men, red wine & rom-com movies, as she confronts her new reality and the closet/life her husband left behind.

Visit www.kellybargabos.com to listen to all past episodes and/or connect with Kelly.

Valentine's Day is looming along with all the pressure we put on the day, our loved ones and ourselves. But what if, instead of waiting, wishing, hoping for someone else to love us like we long for, what if we could be the love of our own life?

Visit www.kellybargabos.com to listen to all past episodes and/or connect with Kelly.