Russ Haddad, 54, also known as A.A. Winston, has had a full range of life experiences,
starting with the death of his father when he was 12 years old.

When not writing poetry, he is the business development manager for the NC Craft Brewers Guild. His professional background ranges from marketing operations through a variety of positions in radio, journalism, tourism/economic development and a series of public service positions. But he always had a love for writing dating back to high school. He turned toward poetry accidentally, dipping his toes in the genre during high school. Poetry became his form of coping through life’s ups and downs, reinvigorating that love during the COVID pandemic. He rediscovered his enjoyment of putting words to paper to express himself and decided to publish his works to share feelings in hopes others relate. 

Originally from Massachusetts, Russ now lives in Chapel Hill, NC with his wife, and has a son in Boston.

https://www.russhaddad.com/

https://www.facebook.com/A.A.Winston

Russ Haddad, 54, also known as A.A. Winston, has had a full range of life experiences, starting with the death of his father when he was 12 years old.
When not writing poetry, he is the business development manager for the NC Craft Brewers Guild. His professional background ranges from marketing operations through a variety of positions in radio, journalism, tourism/economic development and a series of public service positions. But he always had a love for writing dating back to high school. He turned toward poetry accidentally, dipping his toes in the genre during high school. Poetry became his form of coping through life’s ups and downs, reinvigorating that love during the COVID pandemic. He rediscovered his enjoyment of putting words to paper to express himself and decided to publish his works to share feelings in hopes others relate. 
Originally from Massachusetts, Russ now lives in Chapel Hill, NC with his wife, and has a son in Boston.
<a href="https://www.russhaddad.com/">https://www.russhaddad.com/</a>
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/A.A.Winston">https://www.facebook.com/A.A.Winston</a>

"I Am Refocused Radio" is more than just a podcast—it's a movement of purpose-driven storytelling that inspires, uplifts, and empowers. Hosted by Shemaiah A. Reed, a calm and thoughtful creative with a background in media, music, and the arts, the show dives deep into conversations that resonate.

From a humble start in a San Antonio barbershop, Shemaiah’s journey has grown into a global platform featuring over 1,000 interviews with a diverse array of guests—celebrities, CEOs, community leaders, and everyday people with extraordinary stories. Each episode offers a blend of faith, personal growth, perseverance, and hope, fostering a space where listeners can find clarity and rediscover their purpose.

Whether you’re seeking inspiration, innovative ideas, or a moment of peace in a busy world, "I Am Refocused Radio" invites you to refocus your mind and embrace a life aligned with meaning and authenticity. Tune in to join this global community and hear the stories that connect us all.

"I Am Refocused Radio" is more than just a podcast&mdash;it's a movement of purpose-driven storytelling that inspires, uplifts, and empowers. Hosted by Shemaiah A. Reed, a calm and thoughtful creative with a background in media, music, and the arts, the show dives deep into conversations that resonate.
From a humble start in a San Antonio barbershop, Shemaiah&rsquo;s journey has grown into a global platform featuring over 1,000 interviews with a diverse array of guests&mdash;celebrities, CEOs, community leaders, and everyday people with extraordinary stories. Each episode offers a blend of faith, personal growth, perseverance, and hope, fostering a space where listeners can find clarity and rediscover their purpose.
Whether you&rsquo;re seeking inspiration, innovative ideas, or a moment of peace in a busy world, "I Am Refocused Radio" invites you to refocus your mind and embrace a life aligned with meaning and authenticity. Tune in to join this global community and hear the stories that connect us all.

I Am Refocused Podcast

I Am Refocused Radio provides a space that welcomes people to speak freely about real life experiences through various platforms to engage and encourage those who are looking to find their purpose.

I Am Refocused Radio Show

Russ Haddad - Author of "Growth"

CNN anchor Carol Lin is at the height of her career after becoming the first network journalist to break the news of the 9/11 attacks. 

A month later, she finds herself in the crosshairs of a Taliban sniper along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, a stark reminder of the sacrifices she made to succeed in a white-centric, male-dominated journalism career. For Lin, breaking news and the defining split second when lives change is a drug—and a love that her traditional Chinese mother warned would never love her back. But when devastating news breaks apart her own life, Lin is forced to question a career that demands everything, a marriage marked by infidelity and cancer, and the sacrifices required to become the mother her daughter needs her to be.

Told with fierce wit and candor, When News Breaks is the story of a woman who has been places and seen things but still has to discover who she really is behind the headlines.

Carol Lin is best known for being the first national anchor to report the first 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. Carol was a long-time anchor and correspondent for CNN and ABC News. During her career, she covered the war in the Middle East, the aftermath of the Kosovo War, the 2002 Winter Olympics, and every imaginable natural disaster from hurricanes, tornadoes, historic wildfires, and floods. Carol Lin received an Emmy, a Peabody, the Alfred I. Dupont Award, and Greater Los Angeles Press Club Awards for Excellence in both Investigative Reporting and her coverage of the Los Angeles Riots. She lives in Hawai’i and can be found writing, paddleboarding, and teaching her Cavapoo tricks.

https://www.carollinnow.com/

 

CNN anchor Carol Lin is at the height of her career after becoming the first network journalist to break the news of the 9/11 attacks.&nbsp; A month later, she finds herself in the crosshairs of a Taliban sniper along Pakistan&rsquo;s border with Afghanistan, a stark reminder of the sacrifices she made to succeed in a white-centric, male-dominated journalism career. For Lin, breaking news and the defining split second when lives change is a drug&mdash;and a love that her traditional Chinese mother warned would never love her back. But when devastating news breaks apart her own life, Lin is forced to question a career that demands everything, a marriage marked by infidelity and cancer, and the sacrifices required to become the mother her daughter needs her to be. Told with fierce wit and candor, When News Breaks is the story of a woman who has been places and seen things but still has to discover who she really is behind the headlines.
Carol Lin is best known for being the first national anchor to report the first 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. Carol was a long-time anchor and correspondent for CNN and ABC News. During her career, she covered the war in the Middle East, the aftermath of the Kosovo War, the 2002 Winter Olympics, and every imaginable natural disaster from hurricanes, tornadoes, historic wildfires, and floods. Carol Lin received an Emmy, a Peabody, the Alfred I. Dupont Award, and Greater Los Angeles Press Club Awards for Excellence in both Investigative Reporting and her coverage of the Los Angeles Riots. She lives in Hawai&rsquo;i and can be found writing, paddleboarding, and teaching her Cavapoo tricks.
<a href="https://www.carollinnow.com/">https://www.carollinnow.com/</a>
&nbsp;

When News Breaks: Carol Lin on 9/11, War Zones, and Finding Herself Beyond the Headlines

When the alarm sounds, there’s no time for theory—only truth. Fire Captain Mark Andrew joins I Am Refocused Radio to break down what leadership really looks like when lives are on the line. Drawing from decades in the fire service, Mark shares hard-earned lessons that separate leaders people trust from those they don’t.

This conversation goes beyond corporate buzzwords and into the raw reality of leading in high-stakes environments. From building trust under pressure to understanding why presence beats micromanagement, Mark reveals how real leadership is forged in moments most people never see.

When the alarm sounds and lives hang in the balance, there's no time for micromanagement, ego, or empty commands. In the firehouse, leadership isn't a theory-it's survival. Fire Captain Mark Andrew has spent his career learning what separates good leaders from poor ones, often through hard-earned lessons while fighting fires.

In LEADING THROUGH THE HEAT, he distills decades of experience into a practical guide that proves the principles forged in emergency response apply to any workplace:

- Why presence matters more than micromanaging

- How to build trust when stakes are high

- The difference between commanding and inspiring

- What it means to truly care about your team

- How to transform from worker to leader

This isn't another corporate playbook filled with buzzwords and case studies. It's an honest, sometimes raw account of leadership failures and successes witnessed in one of the most demanding professions on earth. Captain Andrew doesn't just tell you what good leadership looks like. He shows you through real stories of officers who earned loyalty in the fire service's crucible and those who lost it.

Get the book: https://a.co/d/047Yu9UK

 

When the alarm sounds, there&rsquo;s no time for theory&mdash;only truth. Fire Captain Mark Andrew joins I Am Refocused Radio to break down what leadership really looks like when lives are on the line. Drawing from decades in the fire service, Mark shares hard-earned lessons that separate leaders people trust from those they don&rsquo;t.
This conversation goes beyond corporate buzzwords and into the raw reality of leading in high-stakes environments. From building trust under pressure to understanding why presence beats micromanagement, Mark reveals how real leadership is forged in moments most people never see.
When the alarm sounds and lives hang in the balance, there's no time for micromanagement, ego, or empty commands. In the firehouse, leadership isn't a theory-it's survival. Fire Captain Mark Andrew has spent his career learning what separates good leaders from poor ones, often through hard-earned lessons while fighting fires.
In LEADING THROUGH THE HEAT, he distills decades of experience into a practical guide that proves the principles forged in emergency response apply to any workplace:
- Why presence matters more than micromanaging
- How to build trust when stakes are high
- The difference between commanding and inspiring
- What it means to truly care about your team
- How to transform from worker to leader
This isn't another corporate playbook filled with buzzwords and case studies. It's an honest, sometimes raw account of leadership failures and successes witnessed in one of the most demanding professions on earth. Captain Andrew doesn't just tell you what good leadership looks like. He shows you through real stories of officers who earned loyalty in the fire service's crucible and those who lost it.
Get the book: <a href="https://a.co/d/047Yu9UK">https://a.co/d/047Yu9UK</a>
&nbsp;

Leading Through the Heat: Fire Captain Mark Andrew on Real Leadership Under Pressure

ABOUT SPACEWOMAN

SPACEWOMAN, a doc about Eileen Collins, the first woman to pilot and command a spacecraft, and directed by Hannah Berryman lands in theaters beginning March 20th and will be in select theaters nationwide.

Eileen's journey, from her working-class beginnings in Elmira, NY, to breaking glass ceilings at NASA, commanding four space shuttle missions, and navigating the pressures on her family is awe inspiring. The doc includes archival materials and interviews that highlight both the monumental dangers of spaceflight and the incredible achievements of the shuttle program, including her leadership on STS-114, the first mission after the Columbia tragedy.

Based on Eileen's book Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars, the film premiered at DOC NYC and is directed by Hannah Berryman and produced by award-winning teams Keith Haviland (Haviland Digital) and Natasha Dack Ojumu (Tigerlily Productions).

It is an intimate and authentic account of an astronaut's life and Hannah Berryman's offers a nail-biting film showcasing the emotional drama Eileen's family experienced, and a philosophical question about what level of risk is acceptable in human endeavor.

Here's the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnhqHdxNsgk 

ABOUT EILEEN COLLINS

Eileen M. Collins is a former astronaut and a retired U.S. Air Force colonel. She retired from the Air Force in Jan 2005 and from NASA in May 2006 after a 28-year distinguished career. A former military instructor and test pilot, Collins was the first female pilot and first female commander of a space shuttle. 

Collins graduated from the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California, in 1990. She was selected by NASA and became an astronaut in July 1991. After tours at Kennedy Space Center (shuttle launch and landing) and Johnson Space Center (shuttle engineer and capsule communicator), she flew the space shuttle as pilot in 1995 aboard Discovery. She was also the pilot for Atlantis in 1997, where her crew docked with the Russian Space Station MIR. Collins became the first woman commander of a U.S. spacecraft with shuttle mission Columbia in 1999, the deployment of the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. Her final space flight was as commander of Discovery in 2005, the "Return to Flight Mission" after the tragic loss of Columbia. She has logged more than 6,751 hours in 30 different types of aircraft and more than 872 hours in space as a veteran of four space flights.

Collins currently serves on several boards and advisory panels, is a professional speaker and an aerospace consultant. She is married with two children.

Collins is also a member of the Air Force Association, Order of Daedalians, Women Military Aviators, Women in Aviation International, U.S. Space Foundation, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the Ninety-Nines.

ABOUT&nbsp;SPACEWOMAN
SPACEWOMAN, a doc about Eileen Collins, the first woman to pilot and command a spacecraft, and directed by Hannah Berryman lands in theaters beginning March 20th and will be in select theaters nationwide.
Eileen's journey, from her working-class beginnings in Elmira, NY, to breaking glass ceilings at NASA, commanding four space shuttle missions, and navigating the pressures on her family is awe inspiring. The doc includes archival materials and interviews that highlight both the monumental dangers of spaceflight and the incredible achievements of the shuttle program, including her leadership on STS-114, the first mission after the Columbia&nbsp;tragedy.
Based on Eileen's book Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars, the film premiered at DOC NYC and is directed by Hannah Berryman and produced by award-winning teams Keith Haviland (Haviland Digital) and Natasha Dack Ojumu (Tigerlily Productions).
It is an intimate and authentic account of an astronaut's life and Hannah Berryman's offers a nail-biting film showcasing the emotional drama Eileen's family experienced, and a philosophical question about what level of risk is acceptable in human endeavor.
Here's the trailer:
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnhqHdxNsgk" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DYnhqHdxNsgk&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1774019035887000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1zZekSfua4WUAdOzP2a79b">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnhqHdxNsgk</a>&nbsp;
ABOUT EILEEN COLLINS
Eileen M. Collins is a former astronaut and a retired U.S. Air Force colonel. She retired from the Air Force in Jan 2005 and from NASA in May 2006 after a 28-year distinguished career. A former military instructor and test pilot, Collins was the first female pilot and first female commander of a space shuttle.&nbsp;
Collins graduated from the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California, in 1990. She was selected by NASA and became an astronaut in July 1991. After tours at Kennedy Space Center (shuttle launch and landing) and Johnson Space Center (shuttle engineer and capsule communicator), she flew the space shuttle as pilot in 1995 aboard Discovery. She was also the pilot for Atlantis in 1997, where her crew docked with the Russian Space Station MIR. Collins became the first woman commander of a U.S. spacecraft with shuttle mission Columbia in 1999, the deployment of the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. Her final space flight was as commander of Discovery in 2005, the "Return to Flight Mission" after the tragic loss of Columbia. She has logged more than 6,751 hours in 30 different types of aircraft and more than 872 hours in space as a veteran of four space flights.
Collins currently serves on several boards and advisory panels, is a professional speaker and an aerospace consultant. She is married with two children.
Collins is also a member of the Air Force Association, Order of Daedalians, Women Military Aviators, Women in Aviation International, U.S. Space Foundation, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the Ninety-Nines.

Russ Haddad - Author of "Growth"

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