Today I am very proud to introduce to you a good friend of mine, John Hinwood, in the new Super Savvy Business Podcast series.

With this podcast episode, I start a new series of online audio trainings for online business owners and entrepreneurs. John has been kind enough to offer the podcast listeners a special gift – so make sure you listen and you take advantage of John’s offer!

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Fiona Lewis and John Hinwood On The Importance of Everyday

Miracles

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In today’s interview John and I talk about:

• 02:36 – Day-to-day life miracles • 07:27 – The miracle of attitude applied in business • 17:00 – The power smiles bring into your business • 19:35 – The miracle of courage applied in business • 25:05 – Go from Stress to Strength with John Hinwood – Surprise Gift! • 31:43 – Getting in touch with John’s miracles

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Read the entire podcast transcription here:

Fiona: Hi, it’s Fiona Lewis here from Super Savvy Business and welcome to the latest podcast interview! today we are very lucky to have doctor John Hinwood to return to our podcast. Last year I was very fortunate to connect with John, we did a podcast interview for the Mumpreneurs Online podcast and he has very graciously agreed to come back today to talk to us a little bit more about what he is doing.

But before I launch into that I just want to give you a little bit of a background about John, who he is and what he has been doing over the past 20-30 years:

John has an unusual way of changing people’s lives; in a journey that has lasted more than 25 years he has been handing out small white cards to almost everyone he has met. And these cards have just three words written on them:

Expect a Miracle.

I was fortunate enough to get one of his cards when I met him and I still carry his card around with me on my purse and it is something that I look at on a regular basis – and we’ll talk a little bit about those in a moment, and why they are so powerful.

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John has handed out over 90,000 cards to people all over the world in the past 25 years and through this small act of kindness, John prompts people to think about their own miracles. The small, seemingly insignificant events and moments in people’s lives that open the doors to a sense of wonderment and opportunity.

In 1985 he and his wife, dr Judy Hinwood adopted three totally illiterate children from Chile by exercising a loophole in the law to create their family when they were told by Australian authorities it was not possible.

Now, a coach, mentor and international speaker for over 30 years, he has helped people from all around the world and in all walks of life to expand their own miracles. John’s experience as a teacher and then health professional by training, successful businessman by effort, and an inspiration by nature has given him an awesome array for practical tools for success.

And today, in our interview, you are going to be hearing some of these amazing tools that John has to share.

2:36 – Day-to-day life miracles

So, John, thank you once again for coming to be with us at Super Savvy Business!

John: Thanks for having me! I’m excited; I’m always excited to share with business people about little things that they can do that are going to make a big difference in their business and their lives.

Fiona: That’s exactly right, and last time we met on the podcast, John, we were talking about – you know – all those little miracles that can happen in day-to-day life for people and the impact they can have. Now, since we connected last year you started on a new project. Would you like to share with us what you are up to with that?

John: Yes I will. Just before I do that, the last twelve months I have really cut my speaking back and I have been working on finalising six more books in the You Can Expect A Miracle series. I had all these books in various stages of development and I just knew that I needed to just sit back and just lock myself away and work on them. Now they are completed, they are currently being uploaded onto Kindle, and in the next couple of weeks they will all be available on CreateSpace in the US and via Amazon’s affiliate, Lightning Source, in Australia.

Fiona: You really have been busy! Six books! That’s phenomenal!

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John: Yes. I must say my wife, dr Judy Hinwood has been a principal author on one of them and on another book she became a contributing author with me. One’s 200 miracle messages from A to Z and these are 55 seconds messages I trialled on to New South Wales Country radio station over a 3 month period. It came out at 7 o’clock in the morning, just prior to the 7 AM news, which is the big news from all over Australia, and before the 1 o’clock news, which is the second big news broadcast. And they were just loved by people. And then, people were asking “Well, can we get this in a book form?”. So they can now.

My great friend, Dr John Martini – we’ve known each other for almost 30 years – John did a huge endorsement for this book.

Another book is You Can Expect a Miracle. Yes, You Can. And these are stories from people from all over the world; that I met from speaking in various places around the world, people sent me stories, and in Napoleon Hill Institute at Purdue University in Indiana, Judy Williamson, who is a director, has done a fabulous foreword to the book about miracles, because Napoleon Hill, of ‘Think And Grow Rich’ fame and ‘The Laws of Success’ and many many others such as Norman Vincent Peale, the positive thinking concept and W. Clement Stone – those guys were the core of it, but Napoleon Hill was the leader.

And the CEO, Don Greene of the Napoleon Hill foundation has done some beautiful stuff in endorsing the book. They just love it because they see it’s Hill’s work carried to another level.

Jack Canfield, who I’ve shared on stages with, has another book called Unexpected Miracles which is very similar to the first book – a collection of wonderful stories from people all over the world… Also, ‘Insights In Life’ – my wife Judy is the head author on, there’s beautiful stuff about creating mind-mapping, creating treasure maps to guide you on your life, about those thoughts and about the passion that is behind it.

And I’ve done a specific one, the chiropractor profession of being a chiropractor for 36 years, You Can Expect a Miracle With Chiropracting and again these are from the professionals all over the world who submitted stories to me, and things which are truly miraculous, or happened with patients over many, many years.

And the last one is The 13 Keys To Becoming a Miracle Magnet. In my half day program Expect A Miracle School I teach 13 keys. And in my first book, you would have the bestseller, the book to change your life, right at the very back, of page 150-58, there is the 13 Keys just listed in bullet point form. Nothing about them, just the names.

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In 13 Keys book, I go out and I write a chapter on each one, illustrated by various stories about how you can change your life in every area, and the steps on how to do it.

Fiona: Yup.

John: So those books will be available very, very shortly.

7:27 - The miracle of attitude applied in business

Fiona: And you’ve been very, very gracious at letting me have a look at the book, The Thirteen Keys – I’ve read through some of it and I have really enjoyed devouring it. You know, each one of those keys are just incredible. They are so important and so powerful, and when we were discussing - you know – what we were going to cover on this interview, John, you asked for me to pick a couple out. And I found it really difficult, because all of them are fantastic topics of discussion and something that I believe could provide a lot of value for our listeners.

But one of the ones you brought up was the miracles of attitude – and I know from my self-attitude when it comes to business – it is so incredibly important. Would you like to share with our listeners a little bit about that chapter?

John: I’d love to. As with my chiropractic you know, my wife and I developed one of the biggest practices in Australia, in Springwood in Brisbane back in the 80s, into the 90s and in the early 90s we started teaching practice management, seminars based on the human side of practice, on the side of love, on the side of caring, on the side of relationships… and if you have all those things in your business, people just want to come to your business. It doesn’t matter where; if they know they are cared for, they will want to keep coming back; if they know they’re loved, they want to keep coming back. If your level of communication meets where they are at, at each level, then they will want to keep coming back.

Judy and I wrote 6 different books in this series for Chiropractic and Allied Health Care professions. And a great friend who really pushed me to do it, one of my clients actually, he was very, very IT savvy, when I couldn’t even turn the computer on! And we were in Melbourne locked away for three days in a hotel room and when I get locked away I don’t even think about eating because it doesn’t even come up for me.

So we had breakfast at six… we went running, and we came back at breakfast at six (we were running at five, turned back for breakfast at six) and off we went. And got to about 9.30 at night and he said, “John, don’t you think it may be a good idea to get something to

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eat?”, and I said, “Maybe, what do you think?”. So, I said, “Where would you like to eat?”, as we were in just near Lygon Street, a hotel quite close to the Lygon Street. For those who know Melbourne, it’s the Miracle Mile of Restaurants. So I said to Keith, “You pick the best one and we’ll go there”. And he said, “Right. The one I want to go to, we won’t get into – No way. It’s booked out for weeks.” So I said, “Keith, you have to change your attitude. It’s not a problem; we’ll get in there.”

So off we walk, we had a 20 min walk ‘cause we wanted to get some exercise and we arrive there and there is one table in the restaurant for two people – everything is full. There are waiters everywhere, everyone has got starched gear and they are looking just fabulous. And we walk up and I to the Maitre De and I say, “Sir, that must be our table over there”. And he looked and he said, “You have a booking, sir?”. And of course, I pulled out an Expect a Miracle card – and I love to give it to people with two hands – and a hand at the top of each I gave it to him and I said, “This is a gift for you. That’s my booking”.

And this Italian gentleman who was late 50s, very stately, the consummate Maitre De said, “This is for me?”, and I said, “Yes, sir. This is your miracle today”. He said, “Of course, sir, your table.”

Fiona: Wow…

John: And we sat down. He went back, and we watched him going through the pages – we didn’t have a booking there but it cost a Miracle. He came back and said, “Pardon me sir, do you have some more of these cards?”

I said, “Yes, how many do you require?”

He said, “Six, please, sir.”

I said, “Wonderful”. I gave him six more and then we could just see over and he called all the waiters together and gave them each a card and they were bubbling and smiling and away they went. And we had the most unbelievable dinner! There were waiters all over us, people couldn’t do enough for us. Now, I didn’t give a card for that! We just gave a card to change their attitude. And you can see that waiters have been busy all night and there was this whole air in the restaurant that was different. And in the restaurant the people have seen the card – the other diners and they said, “Do you have any more of those cards, sir?”

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So I always have a pocketful, because it is lovely to be able to hand them out and see people’s lives change. And as Keith says in his last paragraph – because he wrote the story – he said, “Right here, said John, and he whipped out about 50 cards for the gentleman and several interested diners nearby. The meal was wonderful, of course, we were treated like kings and returned to our work fully refreshed and replete – just as we expected”.

Fiona: The thing I love about that, John, is that it was about the attitude you took in approaching the situation in the first place – so there was that side of it – but then, when you were presented with the situation, it was the attitude that you then presented that completely changed the outcomes.

John: And Fiona, I didn’t go and say, “Well, I guess you are booked out tonight. I’m sure you can’t fit us in. But if you can it would be good”. I just went with the expectation that we were going to find a table there. And, of course, there was one. And the quote at the end of that chapter by Walter Bagehot is, “The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.”

Fiona: It’s so true, and as business owners to be able to approach, you know, especially entrepreneurs who, as we know – we know, as entrepreneurs it’s not an easy road, and there are lots of obstacles and bumps along the way; it’s a bit of a rollercoaster ride – but to take that sort of attitude can really transform your ability to not just get through those moments, but to transform the outcome when you go through them.

John: Yes, and the other thing that sits with that, that essence in the 13 Key book is about asking.

Who are the greatest askers out there?

Children! Kids never stop asking!

And if they get a ‘No’, what do they do?

Ask again! And then ask again!

Fiona: They don’t take ‘No’ for an answer…! (giggles)

John: (giggles) No, and they realise that mums are better hit up than dads are not sure, but certain things “I’ll ask mum” and certain things “I’ll ask dad” (where there are two parents in the family). They know that, they are very clever! And they know that having couched the question correctly, they will go an redevelop the question, ask it in another way.

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And in business, if we are not getting the outcome right, we go back and look, “How can I capture this differently?”, “How can I re-write the ads?”, “How can I take this, what business procedure can I use that is different?”.

Fiona: Mmmmm… because you got an attitude of “No Defeat”, yeah.

John: Yes! When I started the Expect a Miracle School was looking what to call it – academy? institute? and I came up with “School” through something I read a great story about 20 years ago. It was about Smile School, that a small company started in Las Vegas. It became highly successful in the US, and they offered a day’s training in how to smile and when to smile and the difference it makes in the bottom line of running a business. And companies would hire, for instance ten people who were retail staff and they’d send five to Smile School and start on the job. At the end of 30 days they test who had the best outcome as far as the most sales. The people who had been at the Smile School were anywhere between 10-15% higher than those that didn’t go. People who were waiters and waitresses, it was 25%. Call centres, 15%. And blackjack dealers in Vegas (huh!) 5%!! You know, people would rather lose their money to someone who is smiling than is not.

Fiona: (laughing out loud) That’s hilarious!

17.00 – The power smiles bring into your business

John: Because we know that when I smile I secrete endorphins three times more powerful than heroin. I secrete serotonin, another massive feel-good drug. But, the funny thing is, you also secrete it, because you pick up the smiling and it generates you in you the hormones are triggered. So your levels of endorphin and serotonin start going up. And you start to feel better.

And you know I’m smiling while I’m talking because I’m not talking like (mimicking sad voice). I’m not smiling this second time – and you know that! Everybody knows, when you get on the telephone whether the person at the other end is smiling or not.

Fiona: Oh, you can definitely hear it! There is no doubt!

John: Absolutely! It’s a wonderful stuff, and you feel good! I know from a health perspective that a chiropractic assistant who works for me who answers that phone in a beautiful manner “Springwood Chiropractic! This is John” – straight away “Wow, I called the right place! I wanted to call Springwood Chiropractic and he has told me that’s where I called, he has given me his name, he’s John – oh, I really need to make an appointment!”. Wow, now

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we’re talking! We found a place for you to see someone and you’ll start to get well once you see him.

Fiona: Yeah

John: Where did the healing process started? Right there or 24 hours or 48 hours when the person arrived at the practice?

Fiona: Oh, it’s right from the beginning.

John: Yeah

Fiona: From the attitude which they were first introduced into your environment.

John: Absolutely! And then the rest of the script goes, and we take all the information and we make them ready and then we say, “and that if I’m not here when you arrive tomorrow – because I finish when you are arriving at 2 tomorrow, however, Fiona is going to be here. And Fiona is going to be on the look out for you and she will greet you.” So when you arrive here at 2 o’clock and Fiona comes behind the desk and greets you and sits you there – how do you feel?

Fiona: Oh, you feel amazing…

John: One million dollars!

Fiona: Yep, yep.

John: Wow! Have I made the right choice? “Gee, look my husband needs to see someone and I am going to get him and my mother needs to be here and the lady next door, she’s been telling me she had a bad neck – I gotta get her here!” We never advertised – we never had to . We did it all by internal marketing.

Fiona: Yep. So John, the attitude. I mean, obviously there is no doubt that attitude can completely transform your life, let alone your business.

19.35 – The miracle of courage applied in business

One of the other things that stood out to me when I was going through your book was the miracle of courage. Would you like to share a little bit about what you talk about in that chapter?

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John: Well, there is a story here that is by my wife. This is a very, very short story that Judy has… and… we lived at Casulina Beach for many years, we made it our home and we used to run retreats there as well. And we used to shop at South Tweed – our biggest shopping centre. And of course, Tweed Heads is the retirement capital of Australia. And Judy was in the mall and she saw it in a card shop an elderly gentleman who obviously had a stroke. He was in there, attempting to find a card and he was really struggling. So she was walking by, she saw it in a peripheral vision, she went in and she said, “Look, can I give you a hand?”.

He was on a walker, he was covering up his mouth because he had a stroke and half his mouth was paralysed, and she helped him find a card. The poor fellow was out of balance, and instead of a grimace he gave a half of a smile, but the best he could muster. And as Judy said, “All I could do was maintain eye contact, smile and keep up a conversation. His mental and physical struggles were profound. And of course, I gave him my business card, an Expect a Miracle card. Then he really chuckled! Lovely.”

And the quote by the end of the story is by the famous Doug Hannashaw and Doug Hannashaw said, “When the morning’s freshness has been replaced by the weariness of midday, when the leg muscles give under the strain, the climb is endless and suddenly nothing will be quite as you wish, it is then that you must not hesitate”.

Fiona: Mmmm…

John: That happens in business. It happens in life. And as a great Earl Nightingale says, “The opposite to courage is conformity”. And so many people want to conform, because they want to be liked. Our greatest need is actually love but most people think it’s liked. And really with love there are two sides: there is the loving-caring part and there is the tough-love part. Now, people who really love you will exercise tough-love and tell you where to pull your finger out; they will tell you where you need to do something different. As opposed to people who like, they will only give you the loving fluffy stuff; the good stuff is not shared.

Earl Nightingale said, “the timid only swim in the lagoon. I love snorkelling and I love diving and if you go diving or snorkelling and you are up at the Barrier Reef and if I go to Lady Musgrave Island where there is the most idyllic lagoon on this coral atoll and there is one small entryway, in the lagoon you see beautiful fish. But you only see the timid feeders. If you want to get to the good stuff you go out through the entrance, which has been cut through the reef and you go right to the other side where the waves are pounding! That’s where you see the big coral trout, that’s where you see the big Maori Wrasse and the Groper, you see all those beautiful big fish. Because they’ve gotta have the energy, they’ve

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gotta have the courage to fight the currents, to fight the push, to fight the wind – whatever it takes to be out there, to grow and thrive. It’s all there on the other side of the reef. It’s not on the inside, on the inside that’s where the timid feeders are.

Fiona: Yeah, and you know, that to me, John, I love that story because what I have experienced myself personally in business is, when I have had the courage to step outside my comfort zone, when I have had the courage to face things that challenge me, frighten me, scare me – that’s where the magic has happened.

John: Absolutely! And the magic always happens when you stress. When you asked me, Fiona, about what I have been doing, the other thing that is exceptionally exciting… the books are wonderful, but my wife Judy and I, our 22 year old centre of powerful practice of coaching and mentoring, our business which worked mainly with chiropractic practitioners all over the world and other Allied Health Care practitioners… seven of our practitioners purchased the business off us 2 and a half years ago, and I have a 5 year agreement to still be their mentor, which I do for 10 hours a month … and Judy and I – as well as me working on the books, Judy has been working on an amazing book which is ready to be uploaded on the Kindle now too, and that book is called Stress to Strength. 60 billion dollars are spent in Australia annually on stress.

Fiona: Wow…

25:05 – Get from Stress to Strength with John Hinwood – Surprise Gift!

John: And Judy and I are developing a program – May is going to be the first one in Brisbane – a three day program and any of your listeners would be welcome and we will give them free tickets if they came through you … and this program is Stress to Strength. How to go from a state of stress to a state of strength? The tools you will need… and out of that we are also finishing writing now a 12 month, 4 module [4 by 3 day module] on a Stress to Strength Practitioner Program. And we are currently at the stage of having it a Cert 4, certified program and the people that will qualify they can apply for a grant to do it and we just see the world needs Stress to Strength practitioners. And they don’t require any other qualifications other than being alive and breathing. That will be the qualification. If you feel that being a Stress to Strength practitioner can be something that can enhance your lives and others, we will love to work with you.

Fiona: What were the dates of that event in Brisbane, John?

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John: The dates of the Brisbane event are – let me go through the Oracle and I can tell you the exact dates…. are May, 10th, 11th and 12th, the program is a $1997 value but for people from your group I will be happy to gift them.

Fiona: Wow, you are so generous! That’s, you know…

John: Well… People have been generous to us, Fiona. We’ve lived a life that’s created miracles through people’s generosity.

Fiona: So if people were keen to connect with you and to perhaps come along to this Brisbane event, what would be the best ways for them to connect with you, John?

John: Well, they will need to enroll. If they email me personally – because this comes from you instead of specific Stress to Strength email – if they email me personally at john@stresstostrength.com and mention that they heard the podcast and that they would like to take advantage of my offer, they get two free tickets because we believe that if someone comes and they have a life partner, then that person needs to be with them. Or if they have got a great friend, a family member, someone who they communicate with on a regular basis… it’s great for two people to be present. Because then you can bounce things off each other.

Fiona: That’s right, and you are on a journey together then, aren’t you?

John: Absolutely…and this will be a massive-value event! You have heard me speak and you know the value I offer.

Fiona: I certainly do.

John: People are going away amazed of what they have received.

Fiona: John, you know I have been a very big fan of you since the moment I first heard you speak – was it a year or two ago? – I can’t remember, but I absolutely love the energy that you bring into this world and the way that you touch people’s lives … today we talked about, you know, that the miracles of attitude and the miracles of courage can be applied not just to your life, but also into the way that you approach your business. I think that any business owner who is wanting to have a better experience not just in life but in their business and to raise their business to a whole other level would gain incredible insight from reading any of John’s books, but… what was the name of the book with the 13 keys John?

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John: That is called 13 Keys to Becoming a Miracle Magnet.

Fiona: …and that is going to be available on Kindle, and also will eventually be on Amazon as well, did you say? And what was the third site you mentioned?

John: It will be on Amazon within the month and it will be up on Kindle within the next ten days. If they get the Kindle books now and they go to You Can Expect A Miracle – The Book to Change Your Life, my book that came out in 2008 as a bestseller, that’s got the 13 keys listed in the book, at the very back and it says, those thirteen keys are listed. I have written a whole book about the keys.

Fiona: So you have been able to expand on that and create a chapter on each of those keys.

John: And the other thing is, ExpectAMiracle.com website is in the final stage – about 90% complete – we’ve done a total redevelopment of the website. I got my technical creator with me today and he is finalising my one day program … I’m sorry, my one hour tune-up program Creating Miracles In Your Life, my 2 hour The Miracle Mindset, and my 3 ½ hour Expect a Miracle School – they are being finalised now and they will be purchasable on the website in a video format. So they will be streamed to you and instead of being in the seminar room with me, you will be sitting in your favourite chair or wherever it is and you can watch this streaming. Because I know there are people all over the world who want this message.

Fiona: Well, this is right, I mean …

John: My current online store, there are two products: You Can Expect a Miracle hard copy and an eBook. In the new store which is very, very close, there is 32 products in the online store

Fiona: I love the fact that you are relaunching with your website, John, because it will be a great way for people – more people – not just in Australia, but around the world to be able to gain access to the wonderful message that you bring. I encourage anyone who is listening to this podcast to take advantage of John’s offer to be able to join him in Brisbane in May for that three-day event. As I said, I heard John speak live, I have been very fortunate to experience the energy and the beauty that he can bring into people’s lives and, as I said, I still carry around my Expect a Miracle card and I highly recommend that people do connect with him – our listeners in the Super Savvy Business community please make sure if you are not already connected with John that you do make that effort.

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31:43 – Getting in touch with John’s miracles

Now, John, do you have a Facebook page as well?

John: Absolutely – yep: Expect a Miracle – I’ll find you there.

Fiona: Okay.

John: And if you’d like to get our monthly newsletter, if you go to ExpectAMiracle.com and subscribe, you will receive that. And then those people who subscribe, pretty shortly in the next couple of weeks when the new site comes up, there will be the Yes You Can! – they will get that as a free download, that eBook, videos, they will get 23 Expect a Miracle Cards sent to them and they will get the newsletter subscription.

My wife Judy, she is the most unbelievable speaker. People just are in awe of how Judy connects with them. And as well as being a great partner in business, she’s been a great mum, we adopted three kids who were 7 ½, 9 and 10 ½ who were abject poverty, 50 words of colloquial Spanish and she has stepped out of practice for a number of years and helped them. Two sons: one has own successful plumbing business, the other his own successful farming business, our daughter is a stay at home mum and just they lead beautiful lives, and one thing with it: we never ever gave them one cent in money. We decided we’d never give them any money but we’d give marvel love and we’d give them as much wisdom and teach them about business and life.

We have about five grandchildren, fantastic little fellows and they’re are doing the same with them. Care for them and teach them about life and business. It’s amazing what happens!

Fiona: It’s an inspirational family for the sound of it, John. I haven’t met your wife but she sounds like, you know, she is as incredible as you are. John, I’d like to thank you for coming to be with us today at the Super Savvy Business podcast and sharing – you know – what you’re doing with your miracles and Expect a Miracle. You will always be part of our community here, so guys, if you want to connect with John, please make sure that you get involved with Expect a Miracle website and also on Facebook, and think about if you can make it in May to email John personally and let him know that you have heard this podcast and you would like to take advantage of the very special offer that he has given us today.

So John thank you, again…

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John: My pleasure, Fiona, and thanks for the fabulous work that you do. Both Judy and I are honoured to be able to support your members by offering them to come to the Stress to strength program. We are just honoured to do that for you.

Fiona: I really appreciate that, John, and that is very touching. Thank you so much!

John: My pleasure. And, remember, Always Expect A Miracle!

Fiona: So guys, that’s where we’ll end our podcast today with the words Expect a Miracle from John Hinwood who has been our guest today for Super Savvy Business.

You are listening to Fiona Lewis and we will see you in the next podcast interview. Thank you!