Episode 100: One Hundred Episodes and 28,000 Chicken Dances Later - A Love Letter to the improve it! Fam
One hundred shows. One hundred times hitting record. One hundred times thinking of YOU. We didn’t have to think twice when it came to developing the one-hundredth episode. We knew what it was. It was a love letter – to you, the improve it! family. The improve it! Fam who shows up here week after week, the improve it! Fam who believes in themself so much that they take time to invest in their professional development, their personal development, and their growth by hitting play on this show.
We see the work that you're putting out into the lives of others - through your teams, through your communities, through your families. One hundred episodes would NOT exist without your “it.”
So sit back, relax and receive the love that is coming your way. This one is dedicated to YOU.
Show Links:
· First-ever improve it! Virtual Mastermind application
· Send us a voice message here!
· Did today’s episode resonate with you? Please leave us a review!
Connect with Erin Diehl:
Erin Diehl is the founder and Chief “Yes, And” officer of improve it! and host of the improve it! Podcast. She’s a performer, facilitator and professional risk-taker who lives by the mantra, “get comfortable with the uncomfortable.” Through a series of unrelated dares, Erin has created improve it!, a unique professional development company that pushes others to laugh, learn and grow. Her work with clients such as United Airlines, PepsiCo, Groupon, Deloitte, Motorola, Walgreens, and The Obama Foundation earned her the 2014 Chicago RedEye Big Idea Award and has nominated her for the 2015-2019 Chicago Innovations Award.
This graduate from Clemson University is a former experiential marketing and recruiting professional as well as a veteran improviser from the top improvisational training programs in Chicago, including The Second City, i.O. Theater, and The Annoyance Theatre.
When she is not playing pretend or facilitating, she enjoys running and beach dates with her husband and son, and their eight-pound toy poodle, BIGG Diehl.
You can follow the failed it! podcast on Instagram @learntoimproveit and facebook, and you can follow Erin personally on Instagram @keepinitrealdiehl here. You can also check out improve it! and how we can help your organization at www.learntoimproveit.com. We can’t wait to connect with you online!
“I love this podcast and I love Erin!!”
If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing this podcast! This helps Erin support more people – just like you – move toward the leader you want to be. Click here, click listen on Apple Podcasts, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with 5 stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let Erin know what you loved most about the episode! Also, if you haven’t done so already, subscribe to the podcast. That way you won’t miss any juicy episodes! Thanks in advance, improve it! Fam :)
Episode 100 Transcription
Erin (00:01):
Improve it! Fam I know you, you are a leader in your organization and you've realized that you need to up level your professional presence and pay particular attention to the power skills that could Excel your career. But you're having trouble finding a group of like-minded lifelong learners who can cheer on your growth and a learning methodology that will keep you intrigued and wanting to learn more. As a result, you remain stagnant and you watch your peers soar in their careers. While you try to piece together fragments of leadership tools by Googling, reading boring business books, and attending conferences that leave you with a lot of ideas, but no plan on how to implement. You're looking for a support system, a virtual mentor and cheerleader, an outside of the box and interactive approach to learning skills that can help you fast track career success.
Erin (01:01):
I am personally inviting you to the first ever improve it! Virtual mastermind. This mastermind will give you the support, confidence, creativity, and bravery that you will need to up level your power skills and create next level growth in your career all while infusing laughter levity and positivity. Duh, here is what you get a six month master mind program each month, you're going to get one live power skill workshop, an e-learning course post-workshop that reinforces the learning a 60 minute accountability call with members of your cohort and masterminds and an ongoing slack community to share the wins, the best practices and receive an offer support on a daily and weekly basis. Oh my gosh. I would love to have you in this mastermind as a listener of the show, our application process starts on March 30th, 2022. It is application only. So you'll see a link to the application on our show notes.
Erin (02:14):
Click that link apply today. The cohort starts at the beginning of May, 2022 and we'll end at the end of October, 2022. Come join the other members of the improved family, create connection and use your creativity for good to accelerate your career growth. You'll find the link to the apply in the show notes. I hope to see you soon at the improve it! Mastermind. Are you a leader or change maker inside of your business organization or corporation? Are you looking for new innovative ways to drive morale through the roof? Are you looking for fun and exciting icebreakers team building exercises and activities that will foster team growth, friendships, loyalty, and completely transform your organization from the inside out? Have you been searching for a fun and unique way to create change instead of the same old, dry, boring leadership books and ice breakers that aren't actually working? Hi, I'm Erin Diehl, business improv, entertainer, failfluencer, and professional zoombie who is ready to help you improve it. My mission in life is to help you develop teams and leaders through play improv and experiential learning. In this podcast, we will deep dive into professional development team building effective communication, networking, presentation, skills, leadership training, how to think more quickly on your feet and everything in between. We have helped everyone from fortune 500 company needs to small mom and pop shops transform their business, their leadership, and their people through play. So grab your chicken hat. We are about to have some fun, welcome to improve it! The podcast.
Erin (04:22):
Improve it! Fam, okay, this is it. 100 episodes, 100 times sitting down to this microphone 100 times that you may or may not have hit play. If you haven't listened to all 100, that's okay. If you start back at the beginning, it's a different show called failed it. But here we are today, the improve it podcast. Long story short. We've had a lot of time together. And if this is your first time listening to the show, oh my gosh, welcome. But this episode is really for the improve it fam. And if you're new to the improve it fam welcome. If you're a long time listener, thank you. And to anybody who may be just listening today, welcome to this amazing community of like-minded professionals and individuals who are some of the most compassionate, amazing, fantastic human beings on planet earth. So when thinking of what to do for our 100th episode, I knew exactly from the moment that I said, wow, this is gonna be episode 100.
Erin (05:37):
What I wanted this show to be, and this is gonna be a love letter to you. The improve it! Fam who shows up here week after week, the improve it! Fam who believes in themself so much that they take time to invest in their professional development, their personal development and their growth by hitting play on this show. Prove it fam I just love you. I just do. There are no other words. I know you because I am you. And I also just see the work that you're putting out into the lives of others, through your teams, through your communities, through your families, and I'm in awe. And in shock that I get the privilege and honor to sit here and provide you with education and tips and tricks from my own life, from my own training, but also from the amazing guests that we have on this show. And so in that vein of loving you, I wrote you a love letter.
Erin (06:51):
And here's what I'm gonna say. I hand wrote this bad boy. I'm literally, can you hear this? The, my paper with my handwritten cheerleader handwriting. That is what I think about you. Okay. And I don't want you to feel overwhelmed, but it is a lot of goodness. And I wanted to read it to you to today. So this is gonna be a different type of show. This isn't gonna be here's, you know, the setup, here's the meat and potatoes. And then here's the dessert where you take it all home and put it in a doggy bag and use it and apply it. This is strictly an opportunity for you to sit back, to relax, to bask in the goodness that is yourself, cuz you are awesome. This is a moment for self-reflection. This is a moment for you to realize how amazing you are. And if you haven't already stepped into your power, take one step forward, put on new shoes and feed you. What it feels like to walk around like the boss, the leader, the mentor, the coach that you are.
Erin (08:12):
I want you today to bask in your glory because we have overcome so much collectively and we are still going strong. So take a moment, whatever you're doing. If you're on a walk, if you're in the car, you don't need a notebook today. You know what you need to do. You need to take your heart, that little heart right there and you need to open it up, cuz I'm about to pour in to it. Now, you know, I like to bring left levity and positivity to everything that I do. And I gotta say this. When I sat down to write this letter, it just came out. It just poured out. So I didn't think my hand was just furiously writing and it's everything I've ever wanted to say to you in four pages of computer printer paper. Okay? So it's not funny. It don't expect to laugh.
Erin (09:16):
So I'm getting it out. Now. It is just how I feel about you. And I want you to take this in because you have shown up for yourself on this show. You have made a commitment to yourself to pour into you so that you can pour into your teams, your organization, your communities, your families, all of the things that you give and give and give to. I'm gonna give to you today just to you. I want you to sit there. I want you to open your arms. If you're on a walk, I want you to just open your arms really wide so you can feel the love. That's about to pour into you. If you're driving, keep your hands on the wheel, but just roll the windows down. Let the love of the light shine in because you deserve this moment. So without further ado, my amazing improve it family. This is my love letter to you. And if I stumble it's because my handwriting is poop. All right, here we go.
Erin (10:18):
Let me warm it up here. Ah, here we go. Dear Improve it! Fam I know you've been through a lot. The past two years, we've faced a global pandemic, social unjust, and unrest going back to work, not going back to work. Wonder why in the world do I have to go back to work, getting to work, wondering why in the world am I at work and then sitting at home and wondering why we miss the people that we set next to every single day. You're tired. You're tired from carrying the weight of the world. The heaviness of lifting your family, your team, and the all assuming feeling of being safe and wondering am I going to have to go back into isolation? You are hungry. You are hungry for a day. When we can feel safe. When your team can feel safe, where they can feel heard, you're hungry for a world where we can all be unified or differences celebrated.
Erin (11:20):
And where conflicts are lessened, you are strong. You are strong because of the resilience. You've shown your family, your team and yourself. You are stronger knowing that you can do hard things. You are stronger because you know that you are a warrior who will fight for what is right and will keep those around you. Feeling safe and loved in the process. You are bold, you are bold and the choices you're making, you're bold in the perspective shift you felt after running in fight or flight mode for the past two years, you are bold in who you let into your life and into your orbit. You are bold in the choices you make to bring peace, call and connection in a world that feels chaotic, hectic, and disjointed improve it. Family. I wanna thank you. I wanna thank you for your strength for your perseverance to keep showing up, to keep improving yourself, to keep failing, to keep learning, to keep getting back up, trying again tomorrow.
Erin (12:35):
I wanna thank you for your vulnerability and all of the time. It's not just the good ones, but the sad ones, the ones that have experiences with pain of losing a loved one, the sadness in our country and the sadness we felt around the world. I wanna thank you, you for your inspiration for showing future generations and generations who may be lost in a world of pronouns, gender and social equality and pay gaps, that there is a new way forward that we are all learning. And when we learn, we know better. And when we know better, we do better. That progress does not need to look perfect, but that progress must be made because we cannot continue to live or work in a world that is not inclusive of all. I wanna thank you, improve it fair so much for carrying the weight of thousands of eyes, watching you a thousand eyes, watching your every move that weight is ever present.
Erin (13:51):
It won't go away on the scale. You accepted those extra pounds. When you, this leadership journey, that weight will stay and it's up to you, how to hold it. I see you. They all see you and the weight looks so good on you. Don't change my friend. Thank you for believing and laughter and levity and positivity for using and believing and outside the box. Teaching tools that move the needle. And even if that needle has only moved an inch, that inch counts for knowing that laughter is medicine and we all took a daily dose, we could heal the world. Thank you for this miracle of a hundred episodes to allow 28,000 people. That's right, 28,000 people to chicken dance to drop their hypothetical masks at work and to be their truest and most authentic selves. Every single get choked up, okay, improve it fam. It is an honor to know you to get to speak and to serve you in this way. It is not lost on me that you come here week after week, when you could be somewhere else, we could created this safe space together, our own little corner of the world. And together we have a mission to improve it through laughter play and experiential learning to heal the trauma of the past two years to share delightful disappointments, to learn and apply them to improve the quality of our lives and the quality of the lives of the people and the teams around us. I love you improve it fam.
Erin (16:11):
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Erin. Okay. Coming outta that letter, real hot coming out real hot, took me a minute. Had some emotions, felt some vibes. I wanted to write this letter to you. And I mean every single word, I want you to know that what you do and who you are in this world. I want you to know that you are truly loved and that you are enough that you can do the hardest of things and that you deserve to be right where you are, cuz right, where you are is exactly where you need to be. And it's exactly the people that were meant to be a part of your life. So thank you for 100 episodes of pure joy. I have learned so much in this journey and I don't have any plans of stopping. So if you'll stay with me, I'll show up here for you.
Erin (17:23):
Week after week, I'm sending you so much laughter levity and positivity. And here's my only ask as if today or any of these shows that we've put out into the world have made you smile. They've made you think they've brought laughter levity and positivity. You pay it forward. You either give laughter levity and positivity to somebody else share an episode that you think could benefit them or a person, you know, and love, but just continue to be you because I know you and I'm so delighted deal. Delighted. See what I did with that puns. Last name puns are fun. I'm so delighted to serve you and to show up here for you week after week. So you know the deal, keep failing, keep improving because the world needs that special. It that only you can bring happy 100, improve it. Fam let's keep going. Hey friends, thanks for tuning in to improve it.
Erin (18:35):
I am so happy you are along for the ride. If you enjoyed this show, head on over to iTunes to leave us a five star review and subscribe to this show. So you never miss an episode. New episodes drop every Wednesday. Now, if you're really feeling the a show and you've improved it even just a little bit, please take a screenshot and tag me at keeping it real deal on Instagram and share it in your stories. I'll see you next week, but I wanna leave you with this thought, what did you improve today and how will that help your future successful self? Think about it. I am rooting for you and the world needs that special. It that only you can bring see you next time.