Coffee & Change

Mark Rowe is southern born actor who grew up in Tennessee. He spent a decade in New York City as a stage actor, and, since 2012 has lived in LA, Atlanta and New York, working in film, television, commercials and theater.

Today in conversation with Mark we will hear about his change journey that took him from “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown” all the way to “Stranger Things Season 4” with a few stops along the way starring in a memorable and profitable Superbowl Budweiser commercial, a particularly moving role in “The Resident” and most recently a film called “Campfire” that I cannot wait to hear more about as a Veteran.

Enjoy the conversation and learn more about Mark at https://www.markroweactor.com/

Emily Falvey is a Nashville-based singer/songwriter. She is an alumna of Belmont University's Curb College, graduating in 2018 with a B.A. in Songwriting & a B.B.A. in Music Business. Falvey signed an exclusive, worldwide publishing agreement with Shane McAnally's publishing company, SMACKSongs, in April 2018. The single she penned for Big Loud artist MacKenzie Porter, “Seeing Other People,” recently reached #1 on the Canadian country airplay chart. Falvey has other recent & upcoming releases with artists such as Walker Hayes, Carly Pearce, Tiera, Josh Kerr, Jake Scott, and more. Falvey is a member of the AIMP Songwriter Series class of 2019, was voted "Favorite Songwriter" by Young Entertainment Professionals (YEP), & was named to the inaugural Nashville Briefing 30 Under 30 List.

Enjoy the conversation!

Remember back to the days of pandemic lockdown, when so many of us tapped into the well of mindfulness, meditation and mental wellness apps?

Perhaps you dusted off the Headspace app in your phone or maybe you discovered an app called Insight Timer, discovering audio treasures and tracks including music to help us heal amidst our unyielding grief. In those early days, when it was hard to breathe, even scary to breathe, I stumbled upon an artist page in the Insight Timer app. It was one breathtaking photo of the Cliffs of Moher that caught my eye.

And with one tap further, I dove into a track called Ireland. And it changed everything for me. It was in that moment, my grief danced with a duo of souls using the power of intention and frequency to resonate new levels of healing. Matt Bingham and Andrew Hamby make up the duo The Light Meeting. Matt on Guitar and Andrew on Cello. And their creations became my soundtrack for serenity, solitude and stability when all around us was falling apart. On this episode I have the pleasure of hearing Matt’s story of change and thanking him personally for the countless souls he has stirred on this earth with his creations. This is one of those episodes where I got lost in conversation and connected to my younger self. Healing comes in many forms, and for some, there is always music involved. Enjoy the listen.

Over a decade ago I had the opportunity to meet and mentor two incredible consultants, who were just starting out in their careers at IBM in Washington, DC. Together we created a family-like environment, and worked like we were in a startup, always having each other’s back and hyper focused on the mission our daily work supported. That mission was to protect the U.S. joint warfighter and the military’s digital infrastructure around the world. In this episode you will hear from Matt Hennessy and Kristen Mullery, two inspirational humans whose commitment to service has grown to benefit Veterans and global communities around the world. It was an honor to take a walk down memory lane with these two guests and echo their story of change in the world.

In 2020 over 18 million students applied to go to college. And 17.7 million of those students applied for financial aid. Applying for financial aid can be a daunting and emotional process for students and families. In my research for this episode, I learned that in 2020 the number of submitted applications of the FAFSA, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, fell by 50,000 applicants. Guiding students and families along that journey is a global community of Financial Aid Directors and Counselors who are committed to simplifying the complexities and easing the pathway to graduation for the next generation.

This episode is dedicated to these unsung heroes, these keepers of all those forms and even some of the memories. Those makers of dreams. With their focus ever on the next generation pursuing higher education and newfound purpose, their work is seldom heralded. And while the statistics and metrics are all too easily cited, we rarely hear of the stories behind the numbers. Nor do we get to meet the people whose lives have been changed forever by the work of a Financial Aid counselor, like David Carnevale.

In this episode I bring two of those stories to light. Told nearly 20 years later, this story of change is a reunion between a young student and the counselor who helped him find his path to independence and eventually graduation. Thank you to David and Brian for joining the podcast and trusting this platform to echo their stories while championing the next generation of changemakers.

Welcome back. And pardon the interruption. It is a time of reflection in the times we are in. And as such, my partner in composition, a man I am fortunate to call a friend, has scored a new seasonal anthem for the podcast. You may reflect back on his previous seasonal scores, or even his powerful story shared in Episode 72, Playing it Through with Jason Latham.

And as with any co-creation, it often leaves us inspired and gifted with words to accompany the silence between the notes. And so, on this interlude episode, I will share with you, the listeners, the very words that came to the composer as he beautifully scored, composed, mixed and produced this masterful piece, aptly titled, “ALL THE KING’S HORSES” followed by an full, uninterrupted listen of the movement of the music that inspired his words.

Enjoy and thanks for listening and sharing.

Sydney is journalist turned strategist with a unique blend of experience in diversity & inclusion, management consulting and people strategy. Her superpower is th ability to connect and influence - With a knack for leaning into hard and uncomfortable conversations with employees of all levels. She is anchored in doing work that is meaningful and directly impacts and uplifts historically excluded communities.

From scrappy pre-IPO startups to public Fortune 50 companies, Sydney has honed her skills in building diversity recruiting strategies, D&I programs, policy and product inclusion, guiding teams through change management, and educating and empowering senior executives to build, sustain and lead more diverse and inclusive teams, companies and environments.

When not at work, she's trying a new recipe, traveling to and exploring a new place, listening to Stevie Wonder (or trap music) on full blast, reading Black American fiction and sippin' something bubbly. Enjoy the conversation!

My guest on Episode 117 is Beth Banks Cohn, PhD. As President of ADRA Change Architects, Beth helps individuals and organizations reach their full potential. She uses a highly developed organizational intuition to help them see what others might have missed. All efforts are focused on giving the business results they desire.

With over 25 years of business experience in the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare arena, Beth brings time in IT, Sales & Marketing and Operations and combines it with degrees in Organization Development and Human and Organizational Systems as well as a Certificate in Positive Psychology to bring a unique and proven approach.

Beth knows that change and transformation isn't easy for individuals or organizations, no matter what the business drivers are. But it's amazing how much easier it can be when they can align their people and strategy - and look forward to seeing them all grow.

Learn more about Beth at adrachangearchitects.com

Enjoy the listen.

My next guest could write an opus on what it feels like to lead and live in change. I first heard Drew Wilkinson’s story on a the Powered by the People podcast at Microsoft, and instantly found myself drawn in to learn more about his story, most intriguingly the path that led a modern day poet to go from the stage life as the lead singer of a hardcore punk band to one of the world’s preeminent technology companies leading corporate activism and communities of passion for sustainability. If you look up Drew Wilkinson, you will find a quote that fits his change story, and reads almost like a lyric from his days as the front man of his band, “We don’t give up easily. No, doesn’t intimidate us.” Those are the words of a changemaker. Those are the words of a punk rock veteran. And those are the words of an activist, working to leave the place better than he found it. It was an honor to record in person, capturing Drew’s incredible story and listening to the music his band put out into this world. It speaks to the inner songwriter in me, and the quiet rebel in all of us. Enjoy the listen.

Learn more about the community in this short video Microsoft Sustainability Connected Community - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rjDLpGdVs8

Or by reading pages 9-10 of Microsoft’s 2021 Environmental Sustainability Report | Microsoft CSR: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/corporate-responsibility/sustainability/report

You can also reference Drew’s previous blogs on this topic @ Make Sustainability Part of Everybody's Job (microsoft.com): https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/green-tech-blog/make-sustainability-part-of-everybody-s-job/ba-p/3146718

And connect with him on LinkedIn Drew Wilkinson | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewmartinwilkinson/

I met my next guest sailing somewhere in the waters of the Eastern Caribbean in 2014. Canaan Cox began his career singing on Cruise Ships and is now one of Nashville’s fastest rising Independent artists. A true entertainer, Canaan is what some in the industry might consider a triple threat. Actor, singer, dancer…and now he has director and producer credits under his belt too. Having been a fan since the first time I heard him sing so many years ago, it was my honor to welcome Canaan to the show and hear stories of change as an independent artist. Learn more about Canaan at http://www.canaancox.com