My ‘One Word’ this week is: PASTA

𝐈’𝐦 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚 𝐛𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐚.

If you follow Chris on LinkedIn, you know how powerful his work on human connection and gratitude is.

One question he asks at every gratitude dinner stayed with me:

“𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐲?”

I didn’t have to think long.

It’s Diana Allen.

I wouldn’t be where I am today without her. Not because she handed me anything. But because she saw something.

People often ask how I ended up on the 𝐓𝐄𝐃𝐱 Manhattan Beach stage.

The honest answer wasn’t strategy. It wasn’t networking. It was service.

In the fall of 2021, Diana reached out after hearing me interviewed at an event I didn’t even attend. From our first Zoom, we clicked. She genuinely wanted to understand my story and what I was trying to build after leaving corporate life at 50.

During that conversation, she shared that she was thinking about her own next chapter, but didn’t yet know where to begin.

So I did the only thing that felt right. I helped her first.

I offered my ‘𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝’ program to help her find clarity at the edge of her next chapter.

Her ‘𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝’ is 𝐁𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐑-𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐑. And it shifted how she saw herself and what she believed she could build.

Near the end of that same Zoom, she asked me a question:

“What can I do to help you?”

My first instinct was to brush it off. Helping her was enough. But she pushed.

“Come on, Rich. There has to be something on your bucket list.”

So I shared a quiet dream I’d been carrying since surviving cancer at 26.

Doing a 𝐓𝐄𝐃𝐱 talk.

What happened next caught me off guard.

She said, “You might find this ironic…I recruit speakers for 𝐓𝐄𝐃𝐱 Manhattan Beach.”

I remember immediately thinking I shouldn’t have said anything. I truly didn’t believe my idea was ready or worthy of that stage.

She did. Months later, she called out of the blue and invited me to step onto the 🔴.

My first reaction: I told her I wasn’t ready. I was still building. Still figuring it out.

She didn’t hesitate. “Buckle up,” she said. “Your idea matters. It needs to be shared.”

That moment didn’t magically remove my doubts. But it gave me something I didn’t yet have.

Belief from someone I trusted.

When I reflect on it now, that invitation didn’t come from asking. It came from giving.

Reading Gratitude and Pasta reminds me that gratitude is about recognizing the people who quietly move you one step closer to your North Star, often without realizing they’re doing it.

So today, I want to say this clearly.

Thank you, Diana.

Your belief mattered. Your generosity created a ripple. Your presence changed my path.

‘𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝’ for you: GRATITUDE.

Who helped you before there was proof? Start there.