Working Caregivers: The Invisible Employees

How Compassionate Policies Transform Workplaces and Lives with Dr. Gina Anderson

• Selma Archer & Zack Demopoulos • Season 1 • Episode 10

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In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Gina Anderson, a learning scientist and advocate for working caregivers. Join us as we explore her personal caregiving journey, her groundbreaking compassionate care policy, and the profound ripple effects such policies can have on workplaces and beyond. Dr. Anderson shares her experience of caregiving for her mother while balancing the demands of running a business, offering practical advice and inspiration for employers and caregivers alike. We also dive into how businesses can create a culture of support and trust, the importance of human connection in the workplace, and Dr. Anderson’s work in behavioral learning and safety with her company, Luma Brighter Learning. 

Dr. Gina Anderson is on a mission to help motor carriers grow their safety culture through meaningful learning that inspires and engages employees. She has focused her attention on studying how adults best learn for more than twenty-five years, consistently growing her methodology by engaging in the trucking industry and learning professionals.  Gina is the CEO of Luma Brighter Learning, an award-winning company that provides an enterprise learning management system (LMS) tailored to the transportation and logistics industry. With a focus on maximizing safety, ensuring compliance, and boosting employee retention, Luma supports the entire organization with individualized coaching programs, customizable content, digital forms, compliance reporting tools, and unlimited secure file storage. She routinely publishes new, measurable, science-based techniques specifically focused on adult learning to help companies improve their safety scores and uphold compliance. 

 

Episode Highlights:

[3:03] – Dr. Anderson shares a beautiful tradition from her Charleston community and reflects on its connection to hope and resilience.

[4:37] – Dr. Anderson recounts her caregiving journey, balancing her role as a daughter and business owner while caring for her mother.

[12:33] – Discussion on Dr. Anderson’s Inc. Magazine article about implementing compassionate care policies and their impact on employees and families.

[18:44] – How Luma Brighter Learning is revolutionizing behavior change and safety in the transportation industry.

[24:30] – Changes in workplace culture after implementing the compassionate care policy and the importance of building trust and transparency.

[31:26] – Dr. Anderson introduces her upcoming book Thrive: How Learning Can Ignite a New Way Forward and its focus on reconnecting and thriving in life.

[33:55] – How to connect with Dr. Anderson and access her resources for learning and mental well-being.

 

Links & Resources:

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Dr. Gina Anderson:

I have an employee that has a baby at daycare that's sick, and she says to me, like, when you say you mean it, like, I can go get my baby and I don't feel bad about it, and at the end of the day, that's meaningful to her. It's meaningful to me. It's meaningful at the end of the day to my company, because she's gonna show up and do her very best job. And that's not just because I want this for Luma, but you want it for the life of a human being. And I don't know how any business owner can say anything different when you don't focus on the human component of your workforce. Did you

Unknown:

know that in 2020 there were 53 million caregivers in the United States, and by 2025 this number is expected to grow to 62 point 5,000,073% of these caregivers also have a job. They are called Working caregivers, and they are invisible because they don't talk about their caregiving challenges. Working caregivers the invisible employees, is a podcast that will show you how to support working caregivers. Join Selma Archer and Zach demopoulos on the working caregivers the invisible employees podcast, as they show you how to support working caregivers.

Zack Demopoulos:

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening. To our listeners out there, wherever you may be, we thank you for checking in with our working caregiver, the invisible employee Podcast. I'm Zach Dimopoulos

Selma Archer:

and I'm Selma Archer. Hey, Selma, how you doing? I'm cold. Send me some heat. I'm in California. I'm not supposed to be cold, partner. I feel like I'm back in New Jersey.

Zack Demopoulos:

Oh yeah, yeah. Well, you're not gonna get any sympathy from me. I'm in New Jersey this we've had a cold month. We've had a cold month. Not all of us are lucky enough to be where our guest is today, and that is Dr Gina Anderson, welcome, Dr Anderson.

Dr. Gina Anderson:

Oh, thanks for having me. I'm so delighted to be here and

Zack Demopoulos:

tell if you don't mind, tell our listeners and viewers Where are you residing, and tell us some kind of fun about where you reside. All right,

Dr. Gina Anderson:

I am in Charleston, South Carolina. And interestingly enough, Charleston, this kind of goes to our theme today. The community of Charleston puts around the entire community of the holidays words of hope. And so I like going on a scavenger hunt around the holidays, looking for these signs of hope. So there's one. This is joy. And they had multiple signs that say joy. I think one of them is in the airport right now. One of them is down at IOP. I saw it yesterday while I was running. I love looking for these signs. They have love. Love is very powerful sign. And they have one of those down at the waterfront. And then they obviously have hope, so joy, love and hope. And they have them all around the city. And it's always so beautiful to go see them. And I always like to go try to find where they hide them and then take pictures with them. That's pretty cool.

Zack Demopoulos:

Thank you for sharing that don't slam against those cities that use cattle. Think New York City has cattle around or paint. I think I like Joy. I love what's

Dr. Gina Anderson:

pigs. Oh, joy, joy, love and hope. Joy, love, yeah. But they're not there all year. So like, the pigs in Chicago, I think there were pigs in Chicago at one point, and like you said, like, those are there permanently, but these come out around the holidays. Because, as we know, around the holidays, not everyone is, you know, feels happy and hopeful, and so I think those are just a beautiful sign to go out and find those signs that make you feel happy, and they're all lit up, so they're beautiful. Well, I

Zack Demopoulos:

appreciate you sharing that. I actually do follow you on LinkedIn, and I'm gonna encourage our viewers and listeners to to also connect with you, and we'll share in our show notes about how to connect with you, but you have some great posts, and that's how I learned about your beautiful city and how you're on the beach, and I was envious getting your pictures on a piece. But you have some tremendous, great posts, really helpful, thoughtful, practical posts, and we appreciate that really do. Yeah, thank you. Let's get into why we're talking with you today, and you kind of already started referring to it a little bit. I mean, the working caregivers is our life when we focus some, and I focus quite a bit on that, and we know that you are a or were a working caregiver when you and I first spoke a couple of months ago. So can you please share with us a little bit about your working caregiver journey?

Dr. Gina Anderson:

Yeah, absolutely. So I was a caregiver for my mother. My mother, we moved to Charleston eight years ago. We actually moved her out of a house that would freeze, and I was about 45 minutes for my mom, and we lived on Lake Michigan, up in Indiana, and it would get cold, and we lived about 45 minutes for my mom and my husband and I. Realized that it was a lot. We were driving 45 minutes to see her, 45 minutes back every weekend, most you know, multiple times a week. My husband and I have a company together, so we have a little bit more flexibility than your average worker, like that you write about in your book, in the case study. So we had a little bit more flexibility, but we realized that the sustainability of that was not going to be we couldn't continue to do that. And so my mom, actually, we all she was still right of mind, and she really, you know, knew she couldn't care for the house anymore, so we moved her to Charleston, and at the time, she had an apartment, and we moved her she was less than a mile from our house, we would see her every day she was with us, and then she had an incident three years ago where she thought there was an infestation of termites in her home, and we realized, and when we knew, she was becoming more significant in terms of memory loss, but There were signs that she was really struggling with dementia, we thought. And so we decided we actually put an offering on a house down the street from us, because we thought she'd still be able to live independently. Luckily, we didn't get the house, because when we found out we didn't get it, my mom said to us she was afraid to live alone. And so when she said that, we were like, well, you can live with us. I mean, that's, I mean, you're not gonna, like, have your parent go live somewhere if they're scared. So she moved in with us. Three years ago. She was living with us and we, we were seeing, you know, her, her dementia or her memory get progressively more advanced. And, you know, just the daily living of doing just normal things, she started having trouble with and for us, since we have our own business, like we have a little like I said before, we only answer to ourselves. You know, there's no employer to like, tell us, like, you know, you can't take your mom to the doctor, because what happened was, two years ago, she kept getting in a car accident, and I was afraid for her life, and I was afraid for everyone else's life, so I actually told her that we're going to have to take our keys away. And that was a really, really, really tough decision, and it was tough for her, because basically was taking her independence away. She was doing a lot with dog therapy and stuff, and she I told her, we could get her a ride. We could afford that. I could take her, but she didn't want any of that. So two years ago, that happened, and pretty much everything after that. And I know as a learning scientist that being connected and being with people is the most essential thing for staying, you know, staying alive, you know, and being in being together and having those authentic moments. And my mom kind of isolated herself from that, so it was very hard two years she I ended up getting power of attorney for her over the summer, because I could see that, you know, she wasn't eating very well. I actually thought that she was anorexic, and I was very concerned, because she wasn't eating very much. And once I got power of attorney this summer, I started getting her into a lot of doctor's appointments, and I started to realize, like, I can do work from the doctor's office. We have a remote company. I was taking calls from the car. I was like, you know, taking her all these appointments, and I kept thinking, I was thinking I had read your book, and I'm like, Oh my gosh, like, and I don't have children, and I'm thinking of the sandwich generation that you all talked about, of people who have to care for their mom. Like I was having to care for my mom, plus having children. Like, how would you even do that? Like, I don't even know. Like, how people do that? I was reading your case studies, and it was just like, so when I took her to her heart doctor appointment, they told me that they thought that she had a mass on her heart, and that was October 31 and then on my birthday, on November 6, I found out that it was actually terminal lung cancer. So my mom had been living with terminal lung cancer for who knows how long. She never talked about it or complained. So luckily for her, she did pass away on November 19, and we had to go through that process in our home with my mom and watching her die, which was pretty traumatic. You know, one of the things is that I found of having gratitude in the deep love for the fact that she didn't have to suffer very long because her memory, as you all know, you both had experience with, you know, parents with dementia, or, you know, going through those things of how difficult that is, that she didn't have to go through that to the point where it was heading I feel with her memories. So yeah, that's kind of my story with it, and honestly, like I have many times through the process of those six years with my mom, thinking about. How, how you would do it if you didn't own a company? Like, how in the world would you ever get permission from anyone to do that? Like, it's just a lot. I had to take her to an oncology appointment once we found out she had cancer. And like, we were there for ever. Like, I would have had to take a day off work. And, you know. And so to me, I knew why it was important before, but even more so after reading your book and experiencing it personally, why this is something that all leaders and business owners and every manager should have a sensitivity for.

Zack Demopoulos:

Thank you so much for sharing just one quick follow up and sorry for the loss of your mother. Thank you. Know I agree with you because I was an employer, my own business as a long distance caregiver for my parents. So I agree with you that there are benefits to it, but there's also some disadvantages of it, of it as well. I mean, whether you're in business with your partner or not, what do you feel if anything prepared you for this journey, especially during the time when she started living with you, you feel like there's any tips or anything that you could share that might have prepared you, or is it all baptismal by fire?

Dr. Gina Anderson:

You know, I think, honestly, I don't think anything prepares you for taking care of your parent and like having to change her and all the things that come with that, I think for me, having gone through difficult things in the past that I write about in my perspective and illness book, when you go through difficult times in life, and everybody has them, you can pull on those times that you've built resilience, and where your anterior mid, singular cortex and the strength come from with the willpower inside that you can draw on, and whether it's with support of other people like you, you, both of you in your book and a resource that you can say, look, there's other people that have gone through this that can help you build that strength. I think that's really nothing's gonna prepare you for it, but you have to draw on things in your own strength and resources that you have access to to help you get through because in those moments that were tough, it's not like I picked up the phone and called either of you, you know, like, it's like, you don't do that and you but why not? It's because you're it's so traumatic that when you're going through it, you just have to draw on kind of the resources and strengths you have access to I feel.

Zack Demopoulos:

Yeah, thank you. Well. Well said. Thank you. Yeah, Dr

Selma Archer:

Anderson, you wrote this wonderful article recently in Inc Magazine about employers supporting their working caregivers. And I just wondered if you could tell our viewers a little bit about that article. This is just really wonderful. Yeah,

Dr. Gina Anderson:

thank you so much. Well, first of all, thank you both for writing the book that you wrote, because it was deeply meaningful to me, and I felt like it was something that all business owners, Inc, 5000 are the fastest growing companies in America, private companies in America, and I'm part of one of their thought leader groups as a learning expert, and I really wanted to share with other business owners why your book and why your resource was so important for them to consider writing a compassionate care policy. Now, I had this consideration before my mom became terminally ill. This wasn't because of my mom. It was something because I felt like this is something that all business owners and employees should be aware of. And so I pitched the idea to Inc Magazine, and they published it. And in fact, that article was chosen as the top five articles that they published in their newsletter, as viewed because, you know, the thing is the idea that this is a gift that you can give employees. So the whole theme was about, I wanted it to be published around Christmas, because as a business owner, you're always thinking about, what can I do for my employees? Like every business owner, you would hope, or at least managers, think about what could they can do for their employees. And for me, it was like an opportunity to give that to the business community. It's your book. In this idea of writing a compassionate care policy is a gift that any business person can give or manager can give. So the Ink Magazine community is a fabulous community that shares great resources with businesses and business leaders, and that was one that was included in a newsletter that had like 3.4 million followers on it. And so I'm hopeful that even if it's just one business, I mean, out of all those people that have access, makes a difference. Think how many lives can be helped, how many people can be felt better, just by the nature of what you both have done. So I really appreciate that, that you've written that book, and that it can have such an impact on so many businesses. So thank you. Yeah.

Selma Archer:

Thank you. Just a follow up to that regarding the article, you mentioned that the compassionate care policy not only does it build trust within the organization, but but it extends beyond the walls of the company. Can you talk a little bit more about that?

Dr. Gina Anderson:

Yes, so I experienced this directly of, you know, offering this policy to my employees. And you know, the thing is, employees have families, employees have friends, employees have, you know, a whole network of people. And I had a parent of one of my employees reach out and just thank me, who also is a director of HR at a large organization, and just say how meaningful it was to read that a company would do this for their employees, and to think about the impact that it could have on a large organization such as his. And you know, the hundreds, hundreds of 1000s of employees that it could impact is so meaningful. So the fact that, you know, people outside of the company are connected and impacted is powerful because it's a ripple effect. One person that's impacted can impact, you know, three people who can impact another three, and it just continues to ripple. And I just think what you all have started is, you know, it's going to change people's lives, and it's not going to just stop now. It's your legacy. You know, like, what you've created is a legacy for people, and I think that is the real outward. This isn't going to just, you're not doing it, just for now. This is going to be something that is is helped forever and future generations to come who are going to struggle even more. And when you put the data in and you cited those references that you know, the workforce is changing, and it's not going to it's going to be changed forever. And so that's why I wanted to say that, because it's not just about my company, it's about the future generations that are that we're going to leave behind, the three of us are going to leave behind, and I think that's the big impact that you can have and that you're all having. So thank you.

Selma Archer:

Wow.

Zack Demopoulos:

Thank you. Love the name of your policy, compassionate care policy. How did you come up with that?

Dr. Gina Anderson:

Well, I think I got the idea reading from your book. You have those examples in your book, and I was like, Oh my gosh. Like, I need to have a policy like that. It Luma, so I created it. And, yeah, I mean, that's the best things. Ideas come from other people. I mean, look, I mean, I didn't originate with that. That's why I cited your book in the article, because anybody that reads those stories from the CEOs in your book that talk about the impact it could have at their organization is very meaningful. You know, no matter the size of your company, whether it's 20 employees like us at Luma, or 1000s of employees, like the HR director at that company, it can make an impact well.

Zack Demopoulos:

And thank you for your for your giving us some credit there. We appreciate that. But the end of the day, you're the one who took the action, so the credit goes to you, particularly. Why I like compassionate care policies, because, you know, there's a lot of buzz words going on lately, and someone I've talked to our guests about words like empathy and compassion, and sometimes they're and even the word Trust, they're hard to describe, but you're actually putting it on paper. You're walking it. You're You're not just saying, show compassion. You're saying, hey, here are six steps to take to deliver compassion, which, which, hats off to you. On that. Oh, thank

Dr. Gina Anderson:

you. It's definitely a gift you can give other people. And it's not just wordsmith and just words. It's like showing them that you care. Like, I have an employee that has a baby at daycare that's sick, you know, and she doesn't feel and she says to me, like, I don't feel, like when you say you mean it like, I can go get my baby and I don't feel bad about it, and at the end of the day, like, that's meaningful to her, it's meaningful to me, it's meaningful at the end of the day to my company, because she's going to show up and do her very best job, you know? And that's not just because I want this for Luma, but you want it for the life of a human being. We're all humans, and the fact that there's employers out there that treat their businesses more than the human spirit is just, it's, it's I just, it's just unexplainable. I mean, we've all had bad bosses. We've all had people that treat work more important than the human and it's just, I just, that's just not me. And so anyone that works at Luma knows that, and they know that it's okay to go take your mom to the eye doctor. Or, you know, I have an employee this week that's with her mom getting knee surgery, and she's working remote. We all work remote, but she's working remotely from her remote spot. It's okay. You know, people don't take advantage of you, because they know that they have your back. And you said this in your book, it's real. I mean, that's real people. When I people can't get over we have a remote workforce, they say to me, Well, you did that because of the pandemic. It's like, no, we've been remote for over 10 years, and it doesn't work for every job, right? Like, not every job can be remote. I get that, but when you can, you can build the team and trust that you want and have ROI. So many you mentioned, it's like, what's the ROI? I mean, the ROI is like the impact beyond life, at work, at your work environment, because they're going to remember that forever. That's not just something they're going to they're going to remember that that you have their back and and that's important, because we as humans, you know, we are missing that connection, that authentic connection that we all desperately need, and you can create that at your work environment.

Zack Demopoulos:

Wow, you've you've mentioned Luma a few times, so tell us a little bit about Luma. And again, it's rare. That not rare, but something I don't get to talk to a scientist too often. So we're really intrigued by some of the work that you're doing. Yeah. So tell us. Tell us about some of the great work that Luma is doing, and what does even Luma mean? So,

Dr. Gina Anderson:

all right, so I'll tell you I have my bracelet on. So my bracelet says Luma brighter learning. I actually put this on in Las Vegas at a Trimble technology event where I pass these out to like 3000 people in the audience, and I asked them if they were committed to change their behavior. So I run a lot. You saw my LinkedIn, and I see people on their phones and they're texting. Yesterday, I was in I was running a nice while I was in the car, and I saw someone on their phone, and they turned it and they were on Facebook while they were driving. And to me, we know like texting and driving. Distracted driving is a huge thing. Luma, brighter learning. What My company is is we're a learning company, and we work with fleets, those big semis, or even Amazon trucks, not Amazon specifically, but little trucks, drivers, enterprise or an enterprise solution that we want to change behaviors, because it could be life or death. And so for me, like, people know it's not, I'm a learning scientist. We all know not to text and drive like it's not like an info it's not like we don't know that. We know it from an information processing standpoint. We just do it. So I had everyone make a commitment, and I let them through a series of activities to think about changing their behavior. Are they ready to change their behavior? And we made a commitment together, not to text and drive. And you know, really, it's about that connection. I talk about human connection. That's what we do. We have a learning management system, but we work not only people think of content, but what we do is we do learner to learner, learner to instructor, learner to self, learner to content and learner to machine, to change behaviors. And every individual is unique in how they want to change your behavior, and that's what we do. And so fleets that work with us, we have close to 600,000 learners in our system, and we find that the companies that work with NUMA see measurable differences and improvements in safety because they're committed and they care about the learning and they use all interaction modes. It's not just telling someone not to text and jot or don't speed. That's another one these semis, like, if you're speeding in a semi in a little split second, you could kill like a lot of people, right? And so it's not telling them in a video stop speeding. That's not going to change your behavior. And so that's what our company does. We focus on specifically logistics and transportation companies, because I see how they're trained, and you would be horrified.

Zack Demopoulos:

Well, we thank you. On behalf of all, all of us driving on the highways, we appreciate what

Dr. Gina Anderson:

you're doing. Thank you. Yeah, it's scary. It's really scary. And you know, just regular drivers all on the road, you know, and thinking about how to change behaviors, and it kind of leads itself about just being disconnected. Um, it's just so powerful when you can make a meaningful connection with someone through learning, and learning is the seed of life. So absolutely.

Selma Archer:

So I was wondering, getting back to the new policy that you implemented compassion here, have you noticed, or maybe it's too soon, but have you noticed any changes in your company culture since you implemented to the policy, and if so, are they are they good? Are they bad? Are people more comfortable coming forward identifying as caregivers? What have you seen? Yeah,

Dr. Gina Anderson:

so I haven't had anyone specifically come forward and say they're a caregiver, but I have had employees say that they needed to take off for doing things that are related to caregiving. So I feel that people feel more and they're not going to be taken away time they can go do those things. So while they may have done them and just not said anything, now people are saying like the employee that's taking care of her mom with knee surgery, they're telling us or telling me. Need that they're doing these things and it's okay. I mean, there's no judgment. It's accepted. And I think that's like, the big like, even as a manager, if you believe that stating it in a policy is so powerful because it builds transparency in your feelings and having it in your handbook, of like, it's in our handbook that they all signed, so everybody knows it's okay. And if they need to go care for their dog at the vet, that's okay too, you know, and it's just just having the compassion to give people the time they need to do what they need to do so they can be engaged at work. Because we know that when they come to work, they're engaged, and we see that and that, and being productive, and all of those things that you want from a workforce. And I don't know how any business owner can say anything different when you don't focus on the human component of your workforce. You know it's more important than the business, because your business will come. I mean, it's going to come when you take care of your people, right? And I see it, and I experience it, and our team is super close, and we're going to be going to Costa Rica as a team to have a mental health week, January 11 through the 18th. And that's something that I think is important too, is to show your employees it's okay to leave work. We will

Zack Demopoulos:

put a link, of course, about the article, so that our viewers can can read that for themselves. But could you just, like, just maybe give us a couple of tips on how can a employer, business owner get started if they have, like, absolutely nothing in place right now, besides reading our book, which is a shameless plug there. But because you keep saying but, but you know we're not, what are a couple of steps maybe they should take to get at least start in the right direction.

Dr. Gina Anderson:

Yeah, I would say for me, and I, you know, I wrote the article a while ago, but I know for me, the first thing is to think about writing out what's important to you, like as a business owner, that you want to communicate to your employees. And I think that was the piece when I started to work on the compassionate care policy that was important to me, is to tell them, tell them the what that you expect, and then the why you're doing it, and that's really simple. And then also what your expectations are for your employees, like, what do you expect from them and what you're going to give back to them? And those are so important because having transparency is only done through the words that you put on the paper, and you have to mean what you put. So you don't want to write something down for your policy. The number one that you don't believe is the business owner to be true to you, because employees are gonna know. Like, if you're saying it's okay to go out and pick up your children from school, and then you are not acting in the way that you believe, that your employees are gonna know. So if you don't truly believe it's okay for your employees to go pick up their kids at this school, don't put that into policy. Don't say it because, just because you are going to put it, because you think that's what you should do, but you don't really do it, then that's not a gift that actually creates a distrust in your culture that you can't get back. So it's very important if you want to build a compassionate care policy with a culture that represents that you have to be true to your words, and I think that's really critical, because I think sometimes, and I've experienced this in the past, where there's policies that are written but they're not really true. Does that make sense? Like they're not authentic? Yes. So you have to be authentic about what you mean in your compassionate care policy, and don't create it if you're not going to really honor it.

Zack Demopoulos:

Yeah, and Selma, I've also experienced talking to guests that there'll be policies that may be true, but nobody understands them or nobody knows about them. So your commit, your point about communication is extremely valid, as well as like managers who are listening right now, I encourage you to be transparent, like Dr Anderson said, and be honest and just say, You know what? I don't know if we have a benefit that can support you there, but let me look into it, or let me connect you with it with our HR professional, and let's see if we do have a possibility without over committing and under delivering,

Dr. Gina Anderson:

right? And I think it's like an ongoing trust that you build. So when you create a safe environment to build the transparency, like you tell them, like, Look, I know that there's challenges at home. You have these meetings where you talk about it, but then it's ongoing. This isn't like a one and done thing. Like, okay, here's your handbook. Sign it and it's done. It's building this ongoing trust then and asking them, taking them time to, like, see if they have questions or would this qualify for this policy. And have these ongoing check ins we have at our company, an employee starts. We have a 30, a 60 and 90 day check in. Then we check in every six months, because we want to review with them anything that they had questions about, or things that they need or modifications that might need to be made to make them happy. And we have them rate their happiness. One thing I think is really funny is people don't want to rate their happiness at 10. I think it's definitely it's interesting to me. I want to do a research study on it, because it's people's ability to give themselves credit to be a 10, because I think everyone deserves to be a 10. But if it's not a 10 like, why aren't they a 10 like? Try to figure out like and be empathetic. If it's something they want to tell you, just let them tell you that. You know it's okay not to be a 10, but why aren't you a 10? But anyways, I think it's not just a one and done. You know, you have to people ebb and flow and how they feel. You're talking

Zack Demopoulos:

to two HR professionals here, Selma, legal, me and HR, and we used to just scratch our heads with managers, look at look at us, and go, Well, I can't rate them a 10. We're like, why not? Why do we have a rating scale if you can't rate them? Well, that's just impossible. Nobody becomes a tad.

Selma Archer:

Oh, used to

Zack Demopoulos:

be so war. What we you've been so generous with your time. One last question, Salma, you have one left?

Selma Archer:

Yeah, I wanted to ask you. I know you just, we know you just wrote a new book called Thrive. Can you tell us about that? It's exciting. It's coming out. What January 9 or something?

Dr. Gina Anderson:

Yeah, you got it. It's out. But podcast goes, so, yeah, my book is about thriving and how learning can ignite a new way forward. That's the title of it. And what I've done is, you know, I really wanted to write this book because of how I felt people are disconnected. And the surgeon general came out in 23 and talked about loneliness and how people are disconnected. But when you go out and you look in, you know, go to eat, or you're even, I had somebody, one of my friends, say at Christmas, they looked around and everyone was on their phone. People aren't like communicating and being engaged together. And so I wanted to write a book specifically with learning strategies to help us reconnect and really figure out what it is and why, you know, we're feeling this loneliness and so having people reconnect and refocus, recharge, recreate and reignite this passion for life, you know, and really getting back in 2025 to reigniting our love for learning and knowing that tomorrow is a new day. We don't have to live in the past. And my book is a resource to help people move forward into the future, and knowing that the past is important, but letting it go like having a strategy, to know how to let it go and to love and just thrive and be happy. Because at the end of the day, that's what's important. We have to find things in our life to be happy. And so that's why I wrote the book. But I hope people start realizing that they're in charge of their own destiny and their own thoughts, and they have the power to reconnect. So if you're feeling disconnected, there are ways of connecting with others to help you feel more connected, reaching out to both of you. I mean, you're you know, there's so many people that can help you know whether you're a caregiver or not, there's so much opportunity.

Selma Archer:

Well, we excited. I can't wait to get it

Zack Demopoulos:

so applicable in the work that we do, because many caregivers will tell you that they are alone. They feel alone, yeah, yeah, for good reason, because, because, you know, it's not necessarily on their end is, might be that they're being excluded because, you know, they can't do the things that they normally used to do before, absolutely true. Read that book. How can everybody get connected with you? What's the best way? Dr Anderson, yeah,

Dr. Gina Anderson:

so you can find me on LinkedIn. Gina Anderson, I'm on LinkedIn. I have a website learning with gina.com It has a link to my podcast, which is about building a mind of a champion. I started my podcast because I had truck drivers telling me they were depressed, so I wanted to have a podcast forum, and all my learning resources are on my website, so definitely check it out. I'll have a link to my author page on Amazon, and I look forward to meeting so many people, and let's together, make 2025 amazing,

Zack Demopoulos:

awesome, awesome, love it. Thank you so much for your time. It's a pleasure seeing you and having you here.

Unknown:

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