Blog Talk Radio: Gen Next- Top 10 Things We Wish We Knew As Teens

Recently I started a new on-line radio show with a speaker friend, Alton Jamison, www.altonjamison.com . We had our first show this week and I am excited to share it with you!

Please visit our Blog Talk Radio Site at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/GenNext or download this show to your itunes library and listen on the go!


This week's show was all about the Top 10 Things We Wished We Knew As Teens

1) Care less about what people think
2) Don’t rush to be in a relationship
3) Parents and teachers are doing the best they can with what they have
4) Realize how lucky you are
5) Continue to learn foreign language
6) Don’t let money stop you
7) In sports, winning isn’t everything
8) Give people a chance
9) Try new things…even if you are alone
10)Everyone’s NOT doing it

We know that teachers around the nation are tuning in and sharing these podcast with students and teens if it is just you listening, try sharing this with your teacher. This week we talked about 10 things and of the 10 things, there might be some that you are struggling with. So deiced which ones that you want to work on, make a journal entry about this and decide how you can take action!

We look forward to connecting with you LIVE on Gen Next and hearing your show ideas and how we can best help you! Please message me here or at Jill@leadingforlife.com.

Girls Only Leadership Conference at Columbia University

I just got home from one of the best young women leadership conferences in NYC. It was at Columbia University and I lead a workshop for middle and high school young women on communication skills and how to work with different types of leaders. There were 175 incredible young women from the US and a few from Africa and Europe. I hope to do more conferences in the near future for young women! Very empowering!

International Leadership Camp in Switzerland

WOW-Amazing!!! Describes the leadership camps I spoke at in Leysin, Switzerland. I spoke at 2 different leadership camps in Switzerland to group so 50 teens with more than 20 countries represented. The teens were incredible, the sights were beautiful and the other speakers I met were inspiring.

NASC 2009

This past week I had the chance to help with the NASC Conference http://www.nasc.us/s_nasc/index.asp in Denver, CO with main sessions and coaching the conference co-chairs. Annie and Hayley were amazing young student leaders and were so great to work with. NASC 2009 was a huge success-great job!

Inspiring Teens From 14 Countries Gather at UCLA for 1 Week

I had the opportunity to speak at UCLA for a youth program focused on bringing people together from all over the world to better understand each other and be leaders in their nation.

There were about 110 teenagers from all over the world (South Africa, Tanzania, England, Philippians, Korea, Central America,USA) coming together for 1 week and to create an "action plan" for a service project to lead back home. I was the opening speaker for the week and challenged each and every participant to make the most of their week, to be fully present and connect with as many people as possible.

After the speech, we had a Q & A, lunch and connected in smaller groups. It is great to know we have amazing young people in our world today!

Training LIT's In My Local Community

For the past two weeks I had the opportunity to work with a local private school and a local science camp for kids! I have worked with some of the most mature teenagers and I am excited for them to make a difference in young campers lives this summer and be those amazing role models.


We focused on leadership skills such as communication, goal setting, event planning and exploring different leadership styles. We practiced leading games and songs that little kids would enjoy and looked at what it means to be a role model to young kids.

Day In the Life of a German! Discoving German School....

During the month of May I did an exchange program through Rotary International- Group Study Exchange www.rotary.org . I had the opportunity to spend one month in Germany looking at their educational system and learning about the German culture. It was one of the most interesting and amazing months. I lived with 8 different host families around Bavaria and visited 5 German Schools.

I learned how different their system is to the USA system. They focus only on academics and do not offer clubs or extracurricular sports! There are 3 different schools types, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Germany

When I told the German kids about detention and that school goes till 3:00 pm (German school is till 12:30-1:00 on most days) they were shocked. They did not understand why we had dress codes or why kids had to change classes and walk to the teachers (it is the opposite there).

They asked me questions like, "Is America school like High School Musical?" "Are the cops mean?" Very fun and funny. A big difference...teens in Germany are not addicted to Ipods and text messaging. One night I was at a carnival and only saw 4 teens on their phones and 1 with an Ipod...NO WAY! Overall, the teens were the same, they just spoke German and wished to visit America and ours want to visit Europe:)

Dream Leader Goes to Asia

We had our first international Dream Leader event. This last weekend we held a teen/parent Dream Leader event in Manila, Philippines. We had 27 teens and 35 parents attend the Saturday retreat. The parents and teens were split apart for the day and had their own special sessions. The teens focused on their personal goals/dreams and learned skills to help empower them to reach their goals. The parents learned more about the teenage brain and ways to best support their teen during these formidable years.

The day concluded with a special teen and parent session where they came together to share their thoughts and leanings with each other. Dream Leader was a hit in Asia!

Minnesota Student Council Conference

I just got back from BRRRR Minnesota. I had the opportunity to spend 2 days leading the Minnesota MS State Student Conference. About 200 MS students from all over the state of MN came together for “Round Up Leadership” and focused on developing their personal leadership skills. We looked at communication, personal leadership styles and focused on making a different back in our schools. Here are few snippets of our time together!

This is the largest group I have ever done Team Towers with-amazing!

South Carolina Student Council Conference

I LOVE the South! Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong part of the nation. This past Friday night I was the Keynote speaker for the South Carolina Student Council conference. The opening session was amazing! They had a neat glow stick dance, a step team perform and an ending like no other! The theme was G'Vegas and the students did a wonderful job of playing up the theme. After I spoke, there was a surprise visit...from none other than Elvis himself! It was wonderful! Thank you for having me as your speaker!

Girl Scouts Birthday in Orange County

Today was the Girl Scouts birthday and I was the guest speaker for the girls at the Richard Nixon Library, (www.gsbirthday.org). There were over 1,500 young women focusing on the Girl Scout Law and building their leadership skills. It was a wonderful day!

8th Annual MS Conference-Elk Grove

Yesterday I was in Northern California for "Take A Stand, Stand Up, Stand Out and Stand Together" student run leadership conference. The local HS students presented over 15 different workshops to MS students and I was the keynote speaker and 1workshop presenter.

The HS students were remarkable presenters and had the ability to teach, inspire and get the MS students to think about teen issues and ways to be leaders on their campuses. It was a wonderful conference and I am certain those MS kids are making a difference in their schools!

Back Pocket Leadership Meets CADA 2009

I can't believe I have been going to CADA www.cada1.org for 5 years. Each year gets better and better and it is always a joy to see old friends and make new friends.

This year I presented twice during Meet The Pros and Curriculum Round Tables.

I shared my new product "Back Pocket Leadership" (launching the end of April) and 5 different activities with advisor. The activities focused on team building , communication skills, public speaking, problem solving and character building.

I will share more about the cards in the next month...if you want the CADA handout or a sneak peak of 6 free cards, email me at Jill@leadingforlife.com and I will send your way!

Dream Leader-Dreams and Disney

Over President's Day Weekend I met 25 of the most inspiring young people from all over the world... the US, Mexico, Jamaica, Panama, Ecuador and Costa Rica. We spent 4days bringing the book and game "Dream Leader" to life at Disney World.

The four day program consisted of learning, laughing, leadership, specialized workshops on dream setting.

Winter Leadership Conferences in Oregon

This past week I had the amazing opportunity of traveling around Southern and Eastern Oregon with Nancy Moen, the State Director of OASC www.oasc.org and meeting amazing students and advisers through regional leadership conferences. Here was our first school (mostly MS students- pic.the host school).



We had a four day tour starting in Hermiston, then to Hillsbro, followed by Roseburg and finally ending in Beaverton. All in all, we saw about 500 leadership students in middle and high school. Here is our second stop, (all HS studnets-pic.host school)!



The days consisted of ice breakers, a keynote message "Go Big and Make A Big Difference", a leadership workshop on leadership styles, lunch and finally a swap shop on new ideas and activities. The kids were really focused and energized at all four sites. Here are pictures with the host schools (host schools for days 3 and 4). Thanks OASC for a great time!

Where in the World?

So the holidays flew by and I had the opportunity to go to Israel in the month of January and kick off 2009 in an incredible way! It was one of those once in a life time experiences... so very hard to put words to the whole experience, other than saying, "It was AMAZING!"

Just to give you an idea of what the day to day was like, we traveled by bus all over the country, stayed at a total of 4 hotels, at each one we had 3 to a room. On the bus: 37 American participants in Taglit-Birthright Program all ages 22-26 from Los Angeles, 8 Israeli soldiers there to share the experience with us, 2 group leaders from LA employed by Birthright to make sure the trip goes smoothly, 1-2 Israeli armed guards (quantity depending on our location- in the North and Jerusalem we had to have more), one amazing profession tour guide, and hilarious bus driver. All 50 of us were on and off that bus like 12 times a day, and each time we boarded we had to "count off" to make sure we weren't forgetting anyone.


We visited sites such as Golan Heights, floated in the Dead Sea, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, stayed in Bedouin camps, rode camels, climbed Masada...and so much more. It was often the moments in between the moments that I learned the most or had the personal connections. A highlight was visiting the Holocaust Museum and dancing with Holocaust Survivors. There is so much to say about the people, the state, the situation, the amazing beauty of the country...a quick blog is just my attempt to share the other side of Israel that is not often shown on CNN.

And now...back on the road, new and exciting leadership products for 2009, more conferences, friends and memories to be made.

Weekend of Fun At NAWD-National Association of Workshop Directors

This weekend I had the joy and honor of attending and presenting at my 2nd annual NAWD conference (see workshop photo above- “Quick Leadership Activities”). There were so many great ideas and wonderful advisors in attendance.

One of my favorite ideas was from Stephanie Brake from Missouri. The community service project is called, “Make A Wish” Believe Campaign. I wanted to share it with everyone during this holiday season, so you too can help out and have your students write letters.

Children can help grant wishes by writing letters telling why they believe in Santa Claus. Bring the letters to a Macy’s BELIEVE Station and Macy’s will donate $1 for every letter received to the Make A Wish Foundation. Imagine if you had 1,000 students or more write letters during the day…what a great and easy way to help out! Check out this site, http://www.wish.org/help/macy_s_believe for more information.

I look forward to hearing how this project goes for you! Happy Holidays!

NY State Student Council Conference

The NY State student council conference was chilly, but full of warm people. I had the opportuinty to be a "show case" speaker and was sponsored by Herff Jones to lead two keynotes with about 400 student leaders in each group. It was fun and these young ladies in the pictures were the student gov. officers of their school.

The highlight of this conference was hearing another speaker by the name of Mawai http://www.mawispeaks.com/. He is beyond inspirational and a wonderful speaker. He fled civil war in Ethiopia and survived a Sudanese refugee camp for three years. After being resettled in The United States, Mawi overcame welfare, language barriers and personal tragedy to graduate from Harvard University. What a great reminder about how we can preserve through any hardships!

Girls Only Conference ROCKED!

Yesterday I was in Northern California for a Girls Only Leadership Conference. It was so much fun and such a unique conference. We had 289 junior and seniors in HS and 13 advisors-it was an amazing group! I had the opportunity to speak with Shyana Boyte and another young woman Karla Lyngrar. We had three keynote speakers and then the girls had discussion groups about the keynote message.


It was great to see the young ladies connect with each other and think a little deeper about their own lives and who they are becoming. Also, it was extra special for me to work with Phil Boyte (the speaker I met when I was 13 years old, who inspired me to be a speaker). He had the vision for this event and did a wonderful job putting the conference on and organizing the day! I hope to do more Young Women conferences and events in the future---they ROCK!

NHS-National Honor Society Conference- It was an HONOR

This past weekend I had the honor of being at the NHS conference in Orlando, Fl. There were over 850 NHS and NHJS students from across the nation. The students in this picture were the two student emcees for the conference and very inspiring young people. Gordon and Charlotte did a wonderful job and it was tons of fun coaching them on delivery skills (although they are both naturals)! While not working with the emcees, I presented two workshops on Communication Skills and Building Dreams for Life. Also, the closing speaker, Bob Tryanski, www.bobtryanski.com did a great job and it is always fun to see speaker friends on the road!