Can We Get Coffee?

Can We Get Coffee welcomed John Volturo, Executive Coach and LGBTQ+ and DEI advocate, for a conversation with hosts Juliana Wells and Joey Waters on the importance of bringing your authentic self to work, and the challenges that can come with it. John shares with us his experience being the only out gay man in the senior leadership of a major corporation, and how that impacted bringing his personal life to the professional sphere. Why are allies important, and how can you be an effective upstander? Join us for an insightful, and powerful, conversation with advice John gives to his coaching clients and stories from his own experience.

Earlier this year, Can We Get Coffee hosted award-winning documentary filmmakers Julia Leeb, Mariam Al-Dhubhani, and Mohammed Al-Jaberi for a conversation on how to create and share impactful global stories. Drawing on their experiences from misunderstood regions of the world, they compare notes on how to immerse yourself in the community, leverage technology to best record content, and why it's so important to gather as many different perspectives as you can while making sure that you, yourself, do not become part of the narrative.

Building a network is difficult, especially early in your career when you lack that first ring of contacts that can ripple outwards to build exponentially and organically. But what do you do when you're just starting out and don't have a network of your own to offer to others just yet? How do you learn to open doors for yourself and your network? With her background in brand development, Audrey Chen provides deeper insight on building the most important brand you'll ever manage: yourself. We talk with Audrey about finding those first touch-points, fostering relationships, knowing when a connection has come to a close, and how to remain confident and resilient. The pandemic era has changed the landscape of networking in some positive ways - Natasha shares her own experience in virtual networking. Greg also shares why it is important to keep the fact that your career is decades in length in perspective and look long term.

Thinking about starting your own company? Gregory Butler, cofounder and CEO of event and ticketing platform ZuCasa, shares with us that finding the right partners requires a strong sense of self and knowing where your own talents and interests align. This self-audit is a challenging, but critical, step in the entrepreneurial journey. Once you have this understanding, you know what piece you represent in the puzzle and the other pieces you need to find. Spencer cites how Jobs and Wozniak were an example of how friction can spark fire, and Yanis and Gregory take a deep dive into how this reflection can happen as early as the day you graduate, that it isn’t something that has to be two decades into your career. We learn in the lightening round about how Gregory returns to his roots and what show he sees as a masterpiece of the mirror reflection of society today.

We aren't in The Matrix, but we are in a digital world that tracks much of what we do. Once we understand a bit more about how these data are generated, retained, and analyzed, we can get a better sense for how it is being used to influence our decisions and experiences using the internet and social media. Dr. Mathieu Trepanier joins for a conversation with hosts Anthony Wallace and Stefan Baumann to talk about data analytics in a practical sense - they nerd out but in a very usable way for the rest of us! Young professionals, and students still in university, need to know that what is out in the digital world will always be there. Like The Force, there is a light and dark side to it, but get your coffee and join us to download some knowledge... and a bit of caffeine.

The fresh brew in season two, and we're so excited to be joined by entrepreneur and leadership & strategy expert, Charles Gaudet of Predictable Profits. We talk about how young professionals can find their leadership style, how being an introvert can serve as a superpower, combatting imposter syndrome, and more. Plus, Charlie shares challenges he's faced, how he found inspiration from Richard Branson, and why joining a dance ensemble in college changed his life. Greg and Charlie also try, and fail, to convince Priya that they are just very wise for two guys in their early 30s! As a special bonus, you can also find this episode, and more, on Charlie's podcast "Beyond 7 Figures" wherever you get your podcasts!

And we're back! Greg and Ted return, and they're joined by host and producer Roja Pande this season. We learned so much from audience feedback on the first season. We have a new batch of hosts, shorter episodes that stay focused on particular topics, and now that we've gotten the caffeine jitters out it's more relaxed and fun! The first episode goes live on March 15th and we can't wait to have you join us, so go grab your mug.

The global pandemic has changed the way our professional worlds function. On short notice, our entire environment morphed into working from home and video conferencing. Greg is joined by London School of Economics student Isabella Salkeld for a conversation with Ephraim Cohen, SVP and Senior Partner at FleishmanHillard, to talk about how to find opportunities in this chaos. Isabella asks if we have learned enough in the forced experiment of remote working that can move the needle further forward for equality in the workplace. Given the literal and figurative window into the home lives of colleagues, it has sparked a greater sense of empathy, will this stay with us? What changes will stay, where will we return to our previous ways, and how does this shape the future of work. Greg also reminds everyone that the only cure, is more cowbell.

My cohost, Roja Pande, and I sit down with Michelle Wu, Chief Information Officer & Executive Director for APAC at Ingram Micro, to discuss the value of having a mentor. After learning what a mentee can gain from the experience, we talk about how organizations of any size can design and implement structured programs that will have impact. Michelle shares with us what she has gained from different mentors throughout her career, ways she has supported her own mentees, and how to find, approach, and establish this relationship with the right mentor for you. Roja reflects on how she can approach a potential mentor, add the most value as a mentee, and at what phases of life this can all be applied.

For young professionals, there are aspirations that their work will matter. That it will mean something. That it can have an impact. But how can we determine who, or what, will benefit from the effort that is put in? How do we measure that? Joined by co-host Khadija Islow, a journalism student at Northwestern University in Qatar, Greg attempts to break down these objectives in a conversation with Hajer Naili, Media and Communications Manager at The Soufan Center. Drawing on Hajer’s experience as a journalist, advocate, and activist, the group discusses finding the right causes that you’re passionate about, building trust with those whose story you’re looking to share, and understanding what actions you hope your work will stimulate. Hajer shares how she stays motivated even as work wears on you, and Khadija thinks through how she might be able to measure the impact of her upcoming Pulitzer Center fellowship project. Greg attempts to hold back his inner data nerd as he asks Hajer about her effective application of infographics on social media.