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17 RUNS: The Unbeaten Path to Unlock Life’s True Potential
17 Runs is part memoir, part self-help, and completely heartfelt. It follows the story of Olivia Chadwick and her evolving friendship with Garnet Morris, a former client turned mentor, as they literally and metaphorically run through the challenges and transformations that shaped their lives. Each “run” serves as a launchpad for a deeper exploration into topics like self-worth, resilience, and breaking cycles of trauma. Structured around their weekly training sessions, the book combines vulnerable storytelling with reflection exercises, making it both deeply personal and broadly applicable.
What really struck me was how raw and real the writing is. There’s nothing polished for the sake of image here. Olivia opens up about the belief systems she inherited, ideas like not deserving success or needing to earn love through self-sacrifice. Garnet shares how he reframed these inherited limitations as “bricks” to be removed one by one. It made me think about my own mental roadblocks, the things I assumed were just “how it is.” Their honesty made me trust them, and in a genre full of empty platitudes, that’s rare.
Another thing I really appreciated: the way this book blends life stories with actionable advice without feeling preachy. When Garnet talks about breaking his smoking habit and reshaping his life after a wake-up call in a Toronto airport, it’s not just inspiring, it’s practical. He doesn’t just say “change your life,” he walks you through how he did it, and the steps are small, human, doable. The idea of celebrating tiny wins and not waiting for some big moment to make changes? That stayed with me.
The emotional depth of this book is profound. Both Olivia and Garnet recount experiences of trauma, ranging from childhood abuse and eating disorders to the devastating loss of siblings, with a level of care and intention that avoids sensationalism entirely. Their storytelling is grounded in reflection, not dramatization, making it both powerful and respectful. The chapter on “Chosen Family” is particularly affecting. It offers a poignant meditation on the idea that family is not solely defined by biology, but by the people who support our growth and stand by us during life’s most difficult moments. It’s a deeply moving section that lingers long after reading.
By the end of 17 Runs, I felt like I’d gone through something with them. This isn’t just a read, it’s an experience. And I’d recommend it to anyone who feels stuck, tired of the same internal monologue, or like they’ve been living someone else’s version of their life. This is the perfect read for those who enjoy memoirs; it’s real, it’s gentle, and it’s hopeful.
Pages: 178 | ASIN : B0F6WYNND5
Tackling Complexity
Tackling Complexity, by Anu Rathninde, is a book written for and intended for leaders. Its aim is to help them become a better version of themselves and to learn from their own or other leaders’ mistakes. The book’s seven parts each focus on a different aspect of the SIILA model. In addition, they include the writer’s personal experience, giving readers a real-life look at things.
Rathninde writes in a very detailed way, guiding the reader through every concept, even writing a short summary of each part at the end of it. This helps readers review concepts and internalize them. The author also addresses the reader directly, more than once, to strengthen the point and to give suggestions on how to be and become a better leader.
As a reader keen on details, I appreciated the examples taken from contemporary situations. The writer provides the reader with plenty of examples, complete with data, names, and everything that might help contextualize them and that will help the reader understand the concept explained in the paragraph. Furthermore, the focus on variety, complexity, and interdependency helps readers feel part of the process as common situations happen in every work context.
In addition, the book revolves around the SIILA model, a loop of system thinking, internalizing, interaction, learning, and adapting. This model helps the entrepreneur or CEO in question to analyze their own habits and correct them when necessary. It is well described and uses the metaphor of parental love to explain the tough love one has to feel for their own work, which matches their dedication to the process.
Tackling Complexity, by Anu Rathninde, is an enlightening business management book focusing on the personal growth of a leader. With its suggestions and examples that make the reader understand what a good leader is, it can help everyone achieve good results in their own workplace. I recommend this book to any reader keen on self-help books, leaders in need of a guide, and anyone interested in leadership development.
Pages: 221 | ASIN : B09XVMLZ6C
Keep My Passion Alive
The Communications Consultant’s Master Plan outlines the steps that people should follow to have a successful career in public relations. Why was this an important book for you to write?
To clarify just a bit, this book is definitely intended to help people have successful PR careers – but it is also more focused on independence, and building, operating, and even selling one’s own shop. Since finding my way onto this career path, I’ve felt very fortunate. What exactly did I learn that allowed me to become self-employed, land clients, build success, and enjoy the many rewards that make up what many people call a dream career? My goal was to put everything that seemed essential on the table, in the hope that it would work as a blueprint others could follow to blaze their own trails and build their own businesses.
I want to add – together with its companion volume, “The Communications Consultant’s Foundation,” these two books give readers everything I had in mind to share, and a lot more. Many of the brightest people I’ve ever known contributed content for the greater good. Importantly, thanks to my PR industry mentor and former boss Michael Terpin, book two also contains invaluable contract language that can be used to establish win-win relationships with readers’ own clients. It took me over a decade of exploratory diligence after college graduation to gain access to this particular key to the kingdom. Thanks to Michael’s generosity, everyone who reads “Master Plan” has direct access to it, and all the other information they need to know to land and manage accounts successfully.
What is one piece of advice someone gave you that changed your life?
In a letter I still hold onto, our dear family friend, Mrs. Gay Henderson, made a very big deal over something I wrote back in 1995. In that, she urged me to “keep my passion alive in my writing.” A little of that kind of encouragement can go a long way, and I am still able to warm myself at the virtual bonfire she made for me, to make me feel like my writing was important and worthy of a larger audience.
What do you hope is one thing readers take away from your book?
With book one, I wanted to illuminate a new way of working and provide the guidance and toolset to help anyone exploit it. With “Master Plan,” as mentioned, readers have everything they need to launch their careers as independent consultants, build a business according to their ambitions and passions, and plan out the rest of their career in extraordinarily fulfilling ways. My hopes are being achieved each time someone proceeds on this path, due to what I’ve written.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
Yes. More extended writing projects are in the works, and I appreciate you asking about them. I hope your readers will visit my website, sign up for my mailing list, and keep in touch with me. There is a great deal shaping up, and I am seriously looking forward.
Author Links: Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
Going beyond the basics of a communications consulting business, this book parses and distills the knowledge of top business management luminaries, helping readers build and expand their expertise to heighten their opportunities, and maximize all aspects and phases of their businesses, from start-up through to succession. It discusses essential topics including:
• The business of running a PR agency, with emphasis on landing clients and honing expertise to remain exceptional
• Advanced PR practices including investor relations and strategic planning
• Agency expansion, addressing growth and exit strategies
Working PR professionals, entrepreneurs, students, and recent graduates will appreciate high-level insights from a seasoned business owner, as well as templates for proposals, campaign planning, and more. Read with The Communications Consultant’s Foundation or on its own, this book will lead readers on life-changing journeys and help a new generation of smart communicators take their professional pursuits to the highest levels.
The Communications Consultant’s Master Plan
Roger Darnell has a master plan for you if you are looking into public relations and communications. This book is all you need to know how to navigate the appealing and sometimes challenging waters of communication, especially if you run an agency. The Communications Consultant’s Master Plan: Leveraging Public Relations Expertise for Client and Personal Success has the basics, the crucial information, and essential tips on being a better communicator whether as an individual, running a business, or as a representative in the corporate world. You will enjoy reading this book as the author shares the knowledge he has acquired over the years most subtly.
This book’s most important topics touched on winning and managing PR accounts, the right marketing plan, the art and craft of presentation, and agency management. Anyone running, heading, or planning to start an agency should focus on part two of this book, as it has every cheat code to manage a successful agency.
The author does a superb job breaking down his points into manageable chunks for the reader. When discussing subjects like Agency business, for instance, the author gives both hypothetical situations and real-life examples to drive his point home. Reading Roger Darnell’s work is a delight because of how engaging he is. Also included is his personal story; sharing this information will give readers an insight into how challenging and fascinating the PR life can be. Roger Darnell is not only great at explaining but also giving examples. Sharing his highs and lows in the industry was a fantastic concept as the reader can connect with him to a certain degree.
The Communications Consultant’s Master Plan: Leveraging Public Relations Expertise for Client and Personal Success will help you grow your business, attract clients swiftly and become more professional in your craft. Anyone that needs public relations in their professional or personal life will find this book beneficial.
Pages: 209 | ASIN : B09LBB8RJR
Executive Hoodlum
Executive Hoodlum: Negotiating on the Corner of Main and Mean by John Costello is a story about the Vice President of Business Development and Government Relations for Microsemi Corporation. He has a number of titles that he has earned throughout his life, from being friends with movie stars and other high profile individuals to being a Golden Glove boxer. You would think with his long list of accomplishments that he came from a fancy upbringing with rich parents and unlimited resources. Actually, the opposite is true. He was raised in a blue collar neighborhood in Chicago. His father was a somewhat violent man with mob connections and his mother struggled with addiction. John overcame quite a bit of turmoil in order to become the man he is today.
This was a very interesting story from the very first page. Knowing that this was a true story made it even more of a page turner for me. I am often intrigued by true stories of people overcoming their personal struggles and hardships to become the people they are. While we all have our own issues we deal with, I find it great to be able to step into another’s shoes and try their life on for a while.
So many people that have a tough childhood and upbringing use it as an excuse to not reach their real potential. Not John Costello. He adapted to the hand he was dealt and overcame it all. It would be tough to find someone that has had it worse in this country. His story is inspiring and makes you put your own issues into perspective and makes you look at how you can overcome them as well! He used the lessons he learned in a very negative world and has twisted them in a way that is useful in the corporate industry he has climbed into.
I found myself chuckling in some places and holding back tears in others. The storytelling was on point and very relatable. In some ways I could see this being an inspiring box office movie. The situations where was struggling to get out of, yet finding himself falling back into those situations. You find yourself pulling for him to break away from those situations, and the delivery of those small moments are so incredible. I started this book a little while before bed and ended up staying up later than I had intended. The story was just that good. I literally struggled to find a point in which I could put the book down. The next morning I was up and trying to squeeze in the time to finish the book between my other priorities.
Executive Hoodlum by John Costello is a great story for anyone that loves to read about people that overcome adversity in order to become a bigger and better person. I think anyone that has a tendency to think they can’t do something because of where they are from should pick up this book and realize that nothing can hold them back if they put their mind to it.
Pages: 261 | ASIN: B075H1HXK3
LITERARY TITAN 