Annmarie's Breaking Ground Podcast Show

We've been told that letting go is a feeling. A decision. A moment of peaceful release. It isn't.Letting go is a system upgrade. It happens in the body before it happens in the mind. It shows up not in moments of grand resolution but in ordinary moments — a comment in a bar, a boundary held without explanation, a quieter walk home than expected.In this episode, Annmarie goes deeper than the valve analogy. She talks about what it meant to grow up in the Bronx in the eighties — where sensitivity was a liability and suppression was survival — and how that conditioning doesn't disappear just because the environment changes. She names what chronic suppression actually costs: our precision, our intimacy, and eventually, our health. And she introduces the concept that changes the whole frame: the valve has a lifespan. If the underlying pressure never changes, the valve wears out. That's not a personal failing. That's a systems problem. And systems problems require engineers. In This EpisodeWhy suppression in communi

About This EpisodeYou were built for survival. And that was brilliant for the environment you grew up in. But what happens when the code that kept you safe starts blocking the life you're trying to build?Episode 6 introduces the survival blueprint, the factory configuration every one of us develops early in life to stay safe, stay loved, and stay acceptable in environments we never chose. This is not a theory episode. This is a recognition episode. By the time it's over, you'll know exactly which pattern is yours.In This EpisodeWhy the version of you that built everythingalmost stopped it before it started.The three signatures of a survival blueprintrunning in real time — and why at least one will feel uncomfortably familiar.Why fighting the old code never works — and what actually produces lasting change.Why compassion for yourself is the same compassion that changes your closest relationships.This Week's ExperimentIdentify one decision you've been circling, not one you need more information to make, but one

You know exactly what you need to do. You've known for a while. You've read the books, had the conversations, mapped the pattern — and yet here you are. Same loop. Same stuck point. Same frustration.This episode names one of the most common traps in high achievers, analytical thinkers, and systems professionals: admiring the problem. It's the pattern of understanding a situation so thoroughly that the understanding starts to feel like progress — even when nothing has actually changed.Drawing from her own experience and coaching work, Annmarie breaks down why analysis feels safe, why implementation feels dangerous, and what it actually takes to move from insight to action.If you've ever had the same realization for the fifth time without anything changing, this episode is for you. The Three Things Required to Move From Analysis to ActionSpecificity — Vague insights produce vague results. Name the exact condition you are changing, not the general intention.Trigger Point — Identify the exact moment the pattern f

Have you ever had a breakthrough that felt likeit came out of nowhere? An idea that landed fully formed. A knowing that arrived before you could explain it. Most of us dismiss those moments because we can't trace the logic — and if we can't trace the logic, it doesn't feel real.In this episode, Annmarie shares the lucid dream that changed everything — a double helix ofelectric blue light, a surge of energy, and waking up three times clutching the bedsheets. She tells the story she was afraid to share for years, not because it wasn't real, but because she wasn't sure a technical audience would trust it.What she discovered is that insight doesn't arrive by accident. It arrives by condition. And once you understand the conditions that made her January 2021 dream possible, you'll recognize exactly why your own breakthroughs have felt so rare and what it actually takes to create more of them.This episode also introduces the ALIGN framework — Awareness, Letting Go, Intention, Growth, New Reality — the formula for t

Most high performers don't realize they've been running in emergency mode so long that calm has started to feel dangerous. In this episode, Annmarie breaks down what's actually happening inside your body when stress becomes your baseline and why willpower, positive thinking, and even vacations can't fix it.Using the lens of systems engineering, she explains how your nervous system's protection response was designed to save your life and how the conditions of high-pressure careers, strict upbringings, and cultures that reward overperformance can lock that response in the 'on' position indefinitely.You'll leave this episode with a clear understanding of what's happening physiologically, and one practical protocol you can use anywhere to begin shifting your system out ofhigh alert, backed by evidence and rooted in the same precision thinking you already apply to everything else. The 4-1-6 Breath ProtocolReferenced in this episode — use this anywhere your system needs a reset:• Inhale for 4 counts• Hold for 1 cou

You trying to get into a routine, pushing yourself to try harder, telling yourself you just need more discipline. But no matter how many times you start over, a few weeks later you’re back where you started, only more exhausted. In this episode of Engineered Miracles, Annmarie Bhola explains why that’s not a character flaw — it’s a design problem — and why real change comes from changing your conditions, not beating yourself up.A simple phase‑change analogy (water turning to steam, overloaded equipment tripping) that explains why “more effort” eventually breaks systems — including you, not just machinesHow willpower became Annmarie’s default setting: push harder, act tougher, bury emotions, and keep working until her body finally said, “We’re done here,” and cancer forced a shutdownThe four hidden systems under your behavior — body, emotional load, mental loops, and environment — and why trying to overpower all of them with sheer effort is like swimming against a current you won’t admit is thereA real‑life st

On paper, you’re doing everything “right” — working hard, taking care of people, checking all the boxes — but your patience is gone, your body is throwing alarms, and you still can’t stop. In this episode of Engineered Miracles, Annmarie Bhola shares how decades in high‑stress engineering roles and an Indo‑Caribbean “failure is not an option” upbringing led to a breast cancer diagnosis, and how that became the turning point for redefining success, health, and miracles.What you’ll hear in this episodeThe moment her body did what any overloaded system does when you ignore every warning lightGrowing up Indo‑Caribbean with “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it” and “just get over it” as emotional operating codesHow military‑style training, engineering culture, and perfectionism normalized permanent survival modeThe question that stopped her cold after cancer: “If you had to write your own eulogy, what would it say?”Why transformation isn’t magic or willpower — it’s the conditions your system is running underA simple

There’s a quiet question a lot of us are asking right now:Why does it feel like so many systems are failing at once?Not just governments and economies, but families, workplaces, institutions, and even our own bodies and relationships. We’ve optimized for efficiency, productivity, and speed — and yet something essential has been lost.This is where Engineered Miracles begins.Some of you know me from my previous show, Annmarie’s Breaking Ground, where I focused on engineering, operations, and everything in between: how buildings run, how knowledge transfers, how hospitals, universities, and complex facilities stay functional when people move on or retire. That work still matters.But after years inside those environments — places where continuity isn’t optional and failure has real consequences — I started asking a deeper question:Why do some systems endure while others quietly collapse?As I traced patterns across projects, industries, and history, I kept seeing the same thing: every enduring system, from civiliz

This podcast raises an awareness: If new building codes pertaining to HVAC are mandated after COVID-19, there will be a ripple effect in the industry. They will affect HVAC design, equipment installation, energy efficiency, and local laws. Use this down time to recreate yourself and learn something new, use the online resources that didn't exist in 1918.

Meet Dawn Jones Redstone. Dawn worked as a union carpenter before teaching at Oregon Tradeswomen, a non-profit that helps women access living wage careers in construction. During the sixteen years she spent in these positions, she was also making films and is now a full-time filmmaker. Dawn made a short film called Sista in the Brotherhood, which involves a female African American apprentice carpenter who experiences discrimination on the job site and has to choose between making a stand and keeping her job. After winning multiple awards during its festival run, the construction industry began using it as a training tool. Dawn explains why using her film for this purpose is quite different compared to other training methods. I think that the film does a fantastic job at depicting what actually does exist in the construction industry. Currently doing research in pursuit of making a feature-length film, Dawn had the chance to talk to a woman whose job it is to ensure that her company is meeting its workforce di

Meet Nancy Novak, she is the Senior Vice President of Construction at Compass Datacenters and has been working in construction for many years, you can see her bio here. I first discovered Nancy through a LinkedIn post she shared back in February this year. I checked out her profile, immediately recognized our similar interests, and did what most people on LinkedIn do; I requested to connect and messaged her to be on the show. After many attempts to sync our calendars, we were finally able to connect and on April 22nd, we made it happen. Below is just a glimpse of our insightful conversation. Nancy cites that there is so much opportunity in the industry, yet few people know about it. She likes teaching children about this from a very young age and emphasized the lack of construction visibility at most school career days and the importance of educating teachers about the industry as well. I briefly shared Mike Rowe's worse advice he got from his guidance counsellor, when he was in high school, back in 1977. Acc

While facing growing, life-threatening risks from climate change, city leaders across the US have pledged to completely transform their cities to meet clean energy goals within 30 years or less. Many believe that turning these promises into a reality will never happen on this aggressive timeline. H.G Chissell is the Founder and CEO of Advanced Energy Group, a quarterly stakeholder engagement platform focused on collaborative leadership operating in New York City, Boston, Washington DC, Chicago and San Francisco. In this podcast, I discuss with H.G. Chissell the different approach Advanced Energy Group takes to help cities and their communities achieve the seemingly impossible. You can listen to our interview directly on the web by clicking on the player above or listen on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play. To request an invitation to participate in these stakeholder meetings, please visit the calendar section of the Advanced Energy Group website where you can also see the impressive list supporting companies

On October 1st 2015 Hurricane Joaquin took down the SS El Faro cargo ship along with the lives of 33 people. This tragic event ranks as one of the worst Maritime disasters in the United States history. Sophia Meyer, a 16-year-old Thornton Academy student from Maine became interested in the El Faro after reading an article about a year ago. She wanted to learn more and decided to research the El Faro for the 2019 History Day Contest. In her research she found out there was an additional ship the SS Matsonia. Liz Gotthelf wrote an article posted by the Journal Tribune on February 18th 2019 highlighting Sophia's research. I was impressed by this 16 year Old's desire to learn about the Maritime industry and I wanted to get an interview with her. Only days after Liz Gotthelf's article was posted about Sophia's research, the Matsonia was discovered to have a crack in it's hull. On February 28th, 2019 I was lucky enough to get Sophia on the phone and had the following interview.

A little bit about Geir Isene, he is a nerd from Norway. Yes I said that! He loves mathematics, astronomy, astrophysics, particle physics, chemistry, hardware and software. He is the most diverse person I've had on my podcasts to date. What's most awesome is that he helps people, he is a coach and mentor who inspires others to reach their goals and potentials. If you would like to learn more about him, you can visit his website. https://isene.org Geir held a workshop at the annual WISTA conference (WISTA being the "Women's International Shipping & Trading Association") and after leaving Tromsø he launched the podcast: Women will be last to be replaced by robots and AI - that title intrigued me to listen to his episode and after I asked him to be on my show. Since the points he made concentrated on men, I asked, So how will men stay significant? Listen to the episode to hear what was said. The music on this podcast "Clouds" was produced by Geir Isene.

Before I apologize for not launching an episode in over a year, I want to thank the operator who called me out on this. I was at a hospital the other day, an operator opened up his podcast app and showed me my cover photo and asked, "is that you?" I smiled and said "yes", he then said, "You haven't launched one in a real long time". That's when I knew he was a true subscriber. Thank you for for calling me out, it has inspired me to get me back on it. When I initially launched the first episode I didn't know if the industry was ready for it. Heck some of the guys were still using flip phones but I was told, "build it and they will come". I'm glad I did because they are listening. If you know of any products or services that save energy, will impact owners, and help operations please let me know, I'd love to learn about it and have you as a future guest. https://www.ebs.nyc/contact/ (background music provided by Geir Isene)

Asit has taught over 2,200 students in several different courses related to energy efficiency in multi family residential buildings ranging from 20 to 1000 units. His students include facility maintenance and operations staff, facility management and owners, trade contractors, as well as other energy and engineering professionals. Asit and I met when I spoke on the topic of Preventative Maintenance at AEE in 2015 and again when he discussed Condensing Boilers at NYC's 32BJ Union in 2016. I asked Asit to be a guest because I was most impressed with his extensive knowledge and understanding of residential heating systems from a practical perspective. During our interview Asit emphasized on the value of waste prevention vs. energy conservation and identified three opportunities to optimize and improve heating systems in residential buildings with existing controls. The simple adjustments can provide significant savings without installing new equipment only if certain management protocols are revised. He also t

Join me in an interview with Don Yeganeh. Don is a licensed Professional Engineer in New York State and also a Certified Measurement and Verification Professional who graduated from Columbia University as a Mechanical Engineer in 2009. Since then he has spent 6 years as a commissioning engineer and the last 2 years of his professional experience has been with a start-up company Ener.co In our interview we talk about the existing problems with Air Cooled Condensers and their solution that has a payback in less than a year in some cases. Enercoat® is a performance coating designed to prevent corrosion and increase thermal conductivity, resulting in the most energy efficient condenser coils on the market. Their coating does the following: Reduction of energy cost by 14% Increase in energy efficiency by 50% Reduction peak kW consumption by 8% Increase in cooling capacity by 55% Improvement of indoor air quality with an increase in moisture removal and YES they have the field monitoring to prove these results. A

James Park (Jim) is an Energy Conservation Specialist who currently works for I-Star Energy Solutions, a company that focuses on Mechanical Insulation Assessments. Jim brings 42 years of experience in the building industry and has had many different roles since he started as an asbestos worker back in 1974. He has reinvented himself many times to stay relevant and it was a pleasure chatting with him to hear about the significant of amount of money he has helped save companies over the years. Jim shares some of the challenges he deals with when trying to convince clients about savings in their building that is mostly always overlooked. You'd be surprised to hear how some small changes can pay for it self and put money in your profit margins each and every year. If you'd like to learn more about Jim and his industry experience you can find him on LinkedIn. Enhanced Building Solutions LLC, offers a "train and retain" turn key solution for training and development that embraces staff involvement. Building equipme

Steven is the CEO of NYC Cooling Tower Inspection and Services operating out of Queens, NY. Steven graduated in 1998 with a bachelor's degrees in biology and has been in the water treatment industry ever since; he's also a Certified Water Technologist. The reason I asked Steven to be a guest is because I wanted him to share some of his expertise on the topic of legionnaires disease. For anyone who doesn't know in 2015 NYC had its worst outbreak in the city's history — 12 people died and more than 120 people got sick. The outbreak that started in the South Bronx resulted in strict mandates that most buildings must comply with today. Since there have been many mixed messages, as to what's required, I wanted Steve to shed some light. As a consultant he typically gets asked a series of questions that most facility operators would like to know. I thought it would be a great idea if we shared that information. Be sure to listen to the interview, below are just some of the questions Steve answered, if you ever wante

Join me in a passionate podcast interview with Thomas Mitchell, Jr. A former chairman of the International Facility Management Association Board of Directors, Tom brings over 28 years of facility and asset management experience gained from serving in positions of increasing leadership responsibility within the government, commercial and not-for-profit industries. He presently serves as senior vice president and chief operations officer for FM3IS Associates, L.L.C., where he oversees organizational strategic development actions, and directs corporate business operations for independent contracted consultants who specialize in the development and delivery of service offerings in the areas of facility portfolio performance, workforce capability development and organization functionality alignment. He retired from U.S. Air Force active duty in the grade of Lieutenant Colonel, after serving twenty years as a civil engineer officer in a wide variety of positions where he was responsible for leading people and/or ma