Get ready for an insightful talk as I, Karen Hall, your host, reflect on my conversation with the vibrant and award-winning comedian, Jason Hewlett. Prepare to be inspired as we delve into the profound landscape of promises, integrity, and their impacts on our lives. We reflect on Jason's book, 'The Promise to the One', exploring the essentiality of personal commitments, a reflection of our values, and the implications of broken promises. Be sure to listen to previous episodes 57 and 58 of The Hero Within as Jason shares his journey of maintaining his onstage persona offstage, and how he navigates through betrayals while holding onto his integrity.
In a stirring turnaround, I unfold my personal narrative of discovering my calling, mapping from my early fascination with family stories to the launch of this podcast and authoring a book. Together, we reveal the power of vulnerability in storytelling, the rewards of listener feedback, and the significance of your participation in increasing visibility through reviews and following. We encapsulate the essence of resilience, gratitude, and the unswerving value of integrity. Tune in for an enriching exploration of our promises to ourselves and others.
Jason and I would love to hear your thoughts! If you'd like to support the podcast, please follow/subscribe to be alerted to upcoming episodes and also, leave a review.
Wishing you lots of love on your own hero’s journey, xoxo, Karen
Thanks so much for listening!Please share this episode with your loved ones and spread the love to bless others! _________________________________ Connect with Karen Hall
Hey there, welcome back. I'm Karen Hall, your host of the Hero Within podcast. I'm passionate about sharing inspiring true stories of unsung heroes who've overcome some of life's most challenging adversities. Come along with me and learn how you too can find hope and healing to return to love. Jason Hewlett, lds Award-winning comedian and entertainer and world-class performer, was inducted into the prestigious NSA Speaker Hall of Fame and he performed as part of a Middle East tour in support of the US military in Kuwait, afghanistan and Africa. Jason has many awards and a long-running comedy show in Las Vegas. He describes being married to the most beautiful woman in the world, tammy, and they have four incredible children.
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Jason joined me on the podcast recently and if you haven't listened, be sure to hear Jason talk about why promises are so important to him, his life, his values, promises that he has made in his life and his experiences with broken promises by others and betrayal on a personal level in his own life, along with the importance of being the same on stage as off stage. He offers thoughts on asking ourselves what would Jesus do when dealing with others who break promises to us. He also discussed the message of his book, the Promise to the One, in which he talks about promises to ourselves, our family and to others. Jason's promises reflect his values, and being a man of integrity is what defines him. For Jason, family is everything. Most people give lip service to this value, but Jason adores his wife and children and he makes all his decisions, including his career decisions, with his family and his values in mind. In his book, jason asks us to consider what our calling is. I've had a lot of people ask me why I am doing a podcast and I thought I would share more about this after pondering Jason's message about our promise to the one.
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Ever since I was a girl, I love to learn about people. I was particularly fascinated with stories from the lives of my family. I interviewed my grandma and grandpa, my mom and dad, aunts, uncles, great aunts and great uncles, and I remember I would ask them to retell their stories to me over and over. I also enjoyed looking at old pictures and as I grew older, when they would tell me stories, I would write on the back of the pictures to record their memories, and I started taking notes. I wrote letters to family members who lived far away, asking them to tell me their life stories too. I remember how excited I was to get a portable tape recorder and I would carry this tape recorder with me on car rides and when I would go visit people and push record, to hear the stories again and to have them preserved. And then when I got a video camera, I was so excited, especially to record my dad. My mom was always afraid that he was going to die and I wanted to make sure that I had preserved his life story. I tried to memorize his stories every time he would tell them, but I just couldn't remember all the details and I wanted to make sure that I had his stories recorded. It was interesting to me that nobody else in my family seemed to be as enamored with family stories as I was. In fact, a lot of people thought I was quite odd because I absolutely loved hearing family stories, even if I had heard them before.
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When I read the Little House on the Prairie Book series when I was about eleven and later when I watched the Waltons on TV and Richard Thomas was John Boyd, the author on the show, something deep inside me grew and I knew that I wanted to be an author too. So I started writing a children's book when I was thirteen with my childhood friend, lana, it was no surprise when I took a journalism class in high school and began working at the town newspaper as a reporter. I was the high school newspaper editor with my friend Diane, and then I went to college majoring in journalism. I've always loved to write. I actually find it easier to express myself in writing and I also like how I can take time to reword things if I decide I want to say it better. While I began writing a book about twenty years ago, interviewing women who had gone through adversity and asking them to share their stories with me. But along the way life happened and I set it aside, but the calling that I felt in my heart never left. I've also been life coaching for almost forty years now, and I went back to school and got certified as a life coach. I personally benefited so much from my years coaching and I realized I could add life coaching lessons that I had learned in my book. So last year I started working on my book again.
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When I had gone through my own adversity, I often felt very alone and I wanted to help others know that, even though we might not share the same experiences, we shared similar feelings. I wanted others to feel connected as they heard people share their stories and know that they weren't alone. As I interviewed people, I felt like I was fanning a flame inside me that began to burn brighter, and then I felt the distinct feeling to start a podcast, and that way I could immediately feature inspiring stories from people who had experienced adversity. I felt compelled to figure out how to do a podcast as fast as possible and, with the Lord's help, I did.
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I've often felt a calling in one way or another in my life. For me, it's a spiritual feeling, and I can tell when I am in alignment, because my enthusiasm grows and I feel more energy. When I'm aligned, I also feel the Lord inspire me and guide me to help me with tasks and to know what direction to take, and that's exactly what happened to me as I started my podcast and continued to work on my book. Every time I interview someone, I feel the spirit as we bond over shared experiences and struggles, as well as sharing common feelings. I always feel like I've made a new friend and I literally want to reach through the screen and give my guest a big hug.
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I often liken the process of becoming aligned with their calling to following a breadcrumb trail. In the beginning I can feel like it's a bit dark and I'm not sure how to get to the end of the trail. I'm given a breadcrumb ahead and I follow the path, knowing just the next few steps to take or the next single step to take, until I reach that breadcrumb and then another crumb will appear ahead. I learned that I don't have to know how I will accomplish the dream in my heart or even when I will accomplish it. All I need to do is stay close to the Lord, stay in tune with Him, listen for His promptings and ask for courage to take the next step. I have to admit that learning new software to edit my podcast has been quite a challenge, and even though I watched tutorials and took a course from Kathy Heller, I still needed divine help.
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I prayed like James suggests in the Bible. If any of you lack wisdom, let Him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth them not. And the Lord did generously bless me to figure things out Step by step. He has guided me along and I savor every accomplishment that he enables me to achieve. He inspires me and he also inspires others as they share their stories. Every time a guest shares their story, I feel close to them. I also feel the Lord close by and I feel that he is so happy that their story is being shared because one of His children needs to hear this particular message. I am often the one who needs to hear it. I feel so inspired and my heart feels tender when my guest shares their experiences. Most of all, I feel so honored that my new friend trusts me enough to share their story. My heart is full of joy and every time I get finished with an interview, I celebrate and I thank the Lord for the privilege to be a part of sharing something inspiring to bless and lift His children.
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I recently read a statistic from September of 2022 that 90% of podcasts don't get past episode 3. That means 1.8 million podcasters quit and of the 200,000 left, 90% will quit after 20 episodes. I totally understand how this is possible. Podcasting is not as easy as it seems and it has a steep learning curve. The Lord has helped me to publish nearly 60 episodes. My podcast is in the top 3% worldwide and, to my delight, it is listened to on every continent. Every time I look at all the countries where listeners hear the Hero Within podcast, I have to admit I am in awe. How does someone in Kuwait or Afghanistan or Japan find a little old me?
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I don't share this to brag, but to give all the credit to the Lord. It is a total miracle and he is the one who makes this miracle and all the miracles in my life possible. It's only because of Him that I can figure out how to do what I need to do and that I am enabled to do it, and it's only because of Him that I am blessed with the joy to sustain me to keep the podcast going. I made a promise to the Lord to lift His children and to do all that I could to bear their burdens and to mourn with them when they mourn, and the Lord is enabling me to keep my promise to Him to help lift and bless others and sucker those who are struggling. I am so blessed to be able to do this through the podcast. Oh, and the book you ask. It's almost halfway finished. I'll keep you posted on keeping that promise too.
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Well I also wanted to add some thoughts that listeners have sent in and reviews, I forgot to share the feedback the listeners have sent in previously, so I wanted to include that today. One listener said these podcasts are so, so wonderful. Carol Ann's account of the devastating injury and consequential trials and especially the wonderful spiritual experiences that have come about during these times were incredible to hear about. I really needed to hear many of the things that were said on those podcasts, thank you. Another listener said I love the podcast with Carol Ann Guest so inspiring. I really related to not being able to help someone and sending the Spirit or an Angel to help them. I am so grateful for all the help I've received from Beyond the Veil too. I don't know if I could have made it through this life without it. I'm so glad we don't have to. I felt so happy hearing Carol Ann and it made me think about Angels who have ministered to me. Your podcast is so important to give people hope to keep moving forward. It certainly is helping me.
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Another listener said I just finished Carol Ann's podcast and I can't even begin to describe how many layers that touched me on such a powerful and beautiful testimony. I haven't met her, but Carol Ann is a beautiful woman. I felt so lifted, strengthened, encouraged and blessed. There were so many things that were said that just touched me to the core. She is so well spoken. She's blessed so many people with that message. I'm sending a huge hug, thank you. Thank you.
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Julo Fulo said inspiring stories. Take a moment to listen and be uplifted by these stories of faith and hope. Another listener said I loved Carol Ann's voice on her audio. It has a calming effect. Thank you for the much needed piece that she brings to me and to many others. Hungry to learn. 11 said compassionate interviewer Wow, these podcasts have such amazing stories.
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Karen draws out the powerful experiences of overcoming tremendous obstacles from her guests. Not only do they overcome, but their examples of growth are truly inspiring. Another listener described when I heard Carol Ann share the story of her father, I felt the spirit. The story of her father coming to her with so much love gave me hope that I could also heal from my wounds and remove my limiting beliefs. I know many of us long for that experience. I know your listeners need this message. I'm grateful Carol Ann shared such a tender moment. I could tell it was healing for Carol Ann and for Karen. I could tell Karen felt the spirit during the interview. The spirit was so strong, letting me know that we can have that blessing too.
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Mama Frenchy said Trauma Bond, I felt like you were in my mind. Wow, this episode had me taken extra gulp. It was as though you were speaking my experience with exactness. I see how the ripple effects have carried on in my children's lives and I hope they can find the strength to leave. My heart is heavy for those, too, who have gone through this.
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Thank you for being in tune and speaking so clearly the stages that I experienced and it just warms my heart so much to hear all of these messages from listeners and to receive that feedback, because so many times when I do an interview, I'm uplifted but I don't know how other people feel, and my guest doesn't know how other people feel and it can feel vulnerable to share your story on a podcast. So thank you so much for taking the time to send in your thoughts, because my listeners and I am so blessed and so grateful to hear your feedback. It's such a blessing and it's such a wonderful, rewarding feeling to know that keeping my promise is making a difference in your lives. I'm sending you lots of love and lots of hugs. Thanks so much. Thanks for listening. I know you're busy. Did you know that you help spread the love by leaving your review and following. This helps increase our visibility so people can find us online. I really appreciate your help. I'm wishing you lots of love in your own hero's journey.