Beyond High Street

I’ve been watching this week’s guest perform for almost 30 years – first, when he would return as an alum and do stand-up at Balcony (a bar that is no longer in Oxford) and now, on countless sitcoms and movies. Chip Chinery has appeared in, among many others, Seinfeld, Friends, 3rd Rock, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Family Guy, and most recently the movie Battle of the Sexes (and countless TV commercials). In the pod Chip talks about how creating a day-in-the-life documentary of his senior year led to his first job out of college at a news station, and the importance of friendship - as it was a Miami fraternity brothers father who helped him land his next job with a bank (which paid for his stand-up touring). Chip also has some great stories that give insight into the world of a working actor in Los Angeles, from finding out the day before about important auditions, to attending a movie premier only to learn you’ve been cut out of the film (it’s an epic tale). Make sure you stay until the end to hear about his on-set conversation with award-winning actress Emma Stone and the Miami connection they have together.  

One highlight from Chinery’s career

• Got the opportunity to work with Donald Sutherland and Clint Eastwood in Space Cowboys.

Didn’t find out he was cut until he was watching it at the premiere

• Invited to the screening and realized at the end his scene was cut.

Sometimes you find out the night before or the day of that you have an audition

• In TV shows and movies, it’s quite normal and not uncommon for this to happen.

Why Miami

• Chinery had first cousins that went to Miami and he visited them when he was younger.

Always was interested in comedy.

• Started doing stand up when he was 16 and continued this through his high school and college days.

Realized he didn’t want to do business after a 8:00am M-F Calculus class.

• Originally wanted to take mass communications, but his mom wanted him to go to the business school.

After graduating Miami.

• Always been interested in video and TV and stand up.

Keep your friend’s parents in mind for employment.

• Got to be the PR director of a bank because he sent out letters to parents of his frat to buy this year in the life video for his fraternity.

Transitioning into stand up.

• When Chinery got offered the job in CT, he wanted to make sure he could do stand up there.

Chip’ s Money Tip’s Blog (http://www.chipsmoneytips.com/blog/)

• Chinery felt he had some common sense ideas for money tips, so he started a blog to help people.

Emma Stone’s parents went to Miami University (and her aunt).

• Chinery worked with Emma Stone on Battle of the Sexes.

Next iconic actor he wants to work with:

• Christopher Guest.

Focus and listen. It’s what I had to do after my conversation with Stuart. I went back to the beginning of it, listened and learned. He is not only a great storyteller but a teacher too. Stuart is the Founder and CEO of Narrative Science, a company that interprets millions of data sources and transforms it into insightful, natural language narratives. His industry and brand are cutting edge and AI is certainly part of the now and the future. But just as important, I loved his vision of wanting to be “the somebody else,” the client that was being served, which led to an abrupt change in careers (the story is worth listening to). You will also appreciate and respect the business business opportunity he got from a CEO after seeing him (and really only him) on countless Saturdays in the office.

Podcast Notes:

Stuart’s career from Miami

• Accounting major from Miami and started working for PwC.

Coming into the office on a Saturday?

• In office every Saturday 9am-3pm.

Why Stuart got the promotion

1. He was the youngest people there and the CEO thought that younger people would understand and adopt emerging tech and things better.

Take the risk.

• When the project was canceled, he had the choice to go back and practice law or to discover another area of business he was interested in.

Working in AI (Artificial Intelligence), there’s always two sides...

1. Creation of technologies: this is where a lot of work is being done by large companies (Google, Microsoft, etc), but also smaller companies.

Always be in a learning mindset.

• Read everything.

Pulitzer-nominated Wil Haygood has made a career out of telling some of the most interesting, if overlooked, stories in American Life. Most notably, he penned the story "A Butler Well Served by this Election" for The Washington Post which became the basis for the award-winning 2013 film "The Butler" and for Haygood’s New York Times’ best-selling book of the same name. His seventh book, TIGERLAND: 1968-1969, A City Divided, a Nation Torn Apart, and a Magical Season of Healing, was just given to all Miami University freshman upon arrival into Oxford this August and thanks to Penguin Random House, weeks in advance of the actual book release. He addressed the incoming students at Miami’s convocation on August 24 and discussed the importance of race relations. The pod examines his writing success but also digs back into his childhood. Wil was the first person from his family to attend college, and he talks joyfully about knowing the moment he came onto campus that it was the only place he wanted to be. I was also fascinated with his description of his book writing process. You can pre-order the book (release date September 18, 2018) via Amazon

Podcast Notes:

“When there’s unity, good things happen”

Where Haygood’s love of writing began.

• A teacher told him he had a writing gift, when no one had said that before.

Why Haygood chose Miami.

• No one in his family had gone to college and he knew it was going to be a tough challenge.

Growing up in Columbus was different than it is today.

• Grew up on the north side of the city.

It was difficult, but Haygood graduated.

• He knew what was at stake and he knew he had to succeed for himself, his family, and to inspire others.

What gives him the inspiration to write each book

• When he walks into bookstores and he wants to see a book about a certain subject matter, if he don’t see the book he says to himself that he’s going to write it.

Haygood’s writing process for Tigerland.

• Started traveling to Columbus to find and talk to the athletes.

Key takeaways from Tigerland.

• Sports and sports figures have always brought the country together.

What’s next for Haygood.

• Not totally there yet with the idea, but it’s going to have a focus about the world of movies

How “The Butler” came to life onscreen.

• Wrote the story and it appeared on Washington Post.

Wil Haygood’s book, Tigerland, comes out September 18th, you can pre-order Tigerland on Amazon.

I have talked to some wonderful people on this podcast, but it is just a bit sweeter when you can reconnect with a friend from your college days. Lisa and I have been friends for more than 20 years (really almost 30), and it’s been incredible to watch her career blossom. And frankly, she has crushed it over the past few decades. And now she provides a unique podcast perspective as she is between jobs – something not many would be open to talk about. You will love her story about being called the wrong name repeatedly at the Miami job fair and years later, her cold call to a CEO. Both ended with jobs. She has a thirst to learn and spends time in the pod discussing inspiration, the need of space to think and how to understand signals of communication.

Podcast Notes:

“Ask for what you want and you might just get it”

Inspiration comes from learning.

• Lisa credits her inspiration to always wanting to learn and being on the learning curve. Lisa believes learning is where real growth comes from and it’s best to learn by doing.

Sometimes cold calling a CEO works...

• Lisa cold called to the CEO of a company after leaving a technology start-up. She gave pitch and the CEO said sure. This lead back to her continuous need to learn and did this through reading, talking and taking in as much she could.

The importance of having a  “figure it out” mindset.

• If you have a figure it out spirit, you can get a lot of things done

• Lisa spent a semester at the London School of Economics and wanted to challenge herself to learn French. She did and credits this mindset to how she really grew as a person personally and professionally.

Understand what’s said and what wasn’t said.

• When you understand the signals of communication, it’s most important to realize what you miss

• You can pick up on this and realize how decisions are still made

• Example: when a leader announces a promotion, all employees read into what is said, but also what is not said. Be careful.

Miami University is full of opportunity.

• Opportunities are there and you just have to recognize it and reach out and grab it

Ask for what you want.

• Ask for what you want

• Example: Lisa was attending the career fair at Millet Hall and walked up to a recruiter, who kept calling her the wrong name. She told the recruiter she wanted to apply for the investment banking internship and the recruiter told her they only hire Ivy League students for that internship, all while calling her the wrong name. Lisa corrected her name to the recruiter and walked away saying she was only interested in the investment banking internship. A month later, the recruiter called her to tell her she was accepted to move forward to phone interviews for the investment banking group. Lisa ended up getting the internship and is a great example of asking for what you want.

It’s good to take a step back and reflect on what you’re doing.

• Lisa left her job because she realized she was starting to plateau and she wasn’t sure it was what she wanted to be on career path wise. Lisa wanted to step away from work in order to really reflect on what she wants to do next. Continuing with always wanting to learn, Lisa wants to challenge herself and immerse herself in a steep learning curve.

So, what’s next for Lisa?

• Lisa is interested in artificial intelligence and how we are applying it to other industries. It is a gamechanger for how we can use data and predictive modeling to make better decisions to help consumers.

It’s important to recharge.

• Step away from work and dedicate time to yourself.

• Lisa decided to make a plan where her kids would go on a new vacation to a new location and try foods and different cultures once a month. It’s invites the space to think, as well as ushering in great adventures.

Where can you find the space to recharge?

• So many executives are go, go, go, and multitasking.

• Initially, Lisa didn’t create the space to think in any of last jobs.

Lisa’s advice to young Miami University professionals.

• Don’t be so set on having a game plan that you lose other opportunities that come your way