A Tribe Called Yes™ with Daron K. Roberts

Ashreen Mridha has been instrumental in creating a women’s national basketball team in her native country of Bangladesh. She’s a charter member of the team, which was founded in 2009, and continues to train and compete for her country even while juggling a full-time job as a brand manager at Unilever. But her larger dream is to bring the joys of basketball to women all around Bangladesh, and she’s determined not to let anything stop her in pursuit of that goal.

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Jake Thompson thought he wanted to be Jerry Maguire, but the sports agent life just didn’t jive with him. So he pivoted and started his own business selling motivational t-shirts outside a CrossFit gym. Today, that business, Compete Every Day, not only still sells t-shirts (and sweatpants and coffee mugs and hats and posters), but Jake also hosts a podcast, does speaking engagements, and posts all kinds of content to the company’s blog. His message is simple, compete against yourself to be the best you can be.

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Drew Ferris was not heavily recruited in high school, but he joined the University of Florida football team as a walk-on long snapper and eventually earned a scholarship and left Gainesville with two degrees. Inspired by an influential mentor, he then pursued a career in the NFL, spending time with the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Although he faced rejection at numerous points in his journey, Ferris has always been ready to seize the next opportunity.

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Looking at his resume, you’d expect to see Kevin Shen in the C-suite of some high-powered firm in New York City. Bachelors in computer systems engineering and masters in sociology, both from Stanford. MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. And for a few years after graduating, Shen traveled that career path, but a well-timed layoff gave him the push he needed to pursue his true passion: acting. Now a full-time thespian, Kevin has appeared in stage productions at the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company, and in films and television shows. Tune in to hear his story of making a massive and successful life pivot.

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In high school, instead of waiting to be recruited, Jarrod Barnes emailed every single Division I football program to introduce himself. After landing a spot on the University of Louisville team, Jarrod graduated with his bachelors in three years and transferred to Ohio State where he earned a masters of sport management in just one year and then enrolled in a PhD program, all while continuing to play football. Today, Jarrod is the CEO and founder of Prime U, an innovative leadership training company for athletes, coaches, and other professionals.

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Alexandra Franzen is a creative force of nature. The author of numerous books, Alexandra’s writing has also appeared in Time, Forbes, The Huffington Post, Newsweek, and Lifehacker. With her focus on creativity, productivity, goal-setting, and entrepreneurship, Alexandra is the perfect ATCY guest. She’ll help you learn when and how to say no and how to fearlessly pursue your dreams, no matter how far-fetched they may seem.

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When the Obama administration ended, Stephanie Gaither, then a Special Assistant to the Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget, faced a tough transition. She wanted to make her way into the private sector, and after facing a healthy number of rejections, she did exactly that, landing a new gig at Airbnb. As a woman who had eight internships in college and has worked in the bureaucracy of the public sector and the chaos of a tech startup, Stephanie has a unique insight into job hunting and career pivots, which she’ll share in this episode.

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Bernardo De Alba doesn’t believe in doing anything half-heartedly. Case in point, when he decided to try out road racing, the first thing he signed up for was a marathon. After that first race, he was immediately hooked and eventually ended up leaving a lucrative job in business development to pursue competitive triathlons full-time.

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Much to the horror of his parents, Rob Schad chose not to go to college upon graduating from high school. Instead, Rob became a digital nomad, traveling the world while making a living selling products on Amazon and meeting up with other digital nomads along the way. Rob is a self-educated success story and he’s got all kinds of tips and tricks about how to make your life one you are excited to live.

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Jolene Loetscher grew up in a small town in Nebraska, went to Northwestern as a Coca-Cola Scholar, and is now an entrepreneur, an advocate and a mother. Jolene recently ran for mayor of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and her story of faith, perseverance and grit is about to knock your socks off.

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