Connection Interrupted

I first heard about Divine through Scarlet Sieber, a good friend of mine who said “you have to hear his story.” And I’m so happy I listened to Scarlet. Divine’s story is so unique and so compelling that he is actually the inspiration for this podcast. I’ve had the chance to interview Divine before and I realized his story was worthy of so much more than just ten minutes of my time.

I’m not the only one who feels this way. Divine has been interviewed and profiled in multiple publications over the past few years. Personally, I think the Forbes article detailing how Divine came to meet and become introduced to FinTech through the Venture Capitalist Ben Horowitz is still one of my favorites. This will make a great movie one day (Yeah Divine, I’m going there again. Let me know we you’d like me to draft the screen play).

“From crack, to rap, to FinTech” is the tagline Divine embraces. There is some much more to his life experiences though.

This is his story…

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Special Guest: Divine.

“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” - Benjamin Franklin, in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy, 1789.

This famous idiom summarizes the only to certainties in life; however, based on the never ceasing news lately, I recommend we edit this to state “… except death and taxes and any number of men in power positions harassing / coming on to women.”

I originally described this concept of this podcast as a “Charlie Rose roundtable interview format”; a description I need to change immediately thanks to the recent news of his idiotic discretions. And I sincerely believe the Harvey Weinstein accusations were the catalyst the opened the floodgates. Story after story has been breaking of men in power using their position to intimidate, harass, and treat women (and in some cases men - looking at you Kevin Spacey) in a derogatory and threatening manner. The NYTimes list is a continuous running inventory of famous men forced to come to terms with their past actions.

A few years back I helped author a study for Swift on the issue of gender parity in tech/banking. The statistics of the lack of women in leadership positions at the time were jarring for me. My friend Liz Lumley summed this up well when she stated “There are more CEO’s with the name ‘John’ than women CEO’s in the banking / tech industry.”

In this episode I interviewed three friends and company CEO/founders on the topic of sexual harassment and the “bro-culture” in tech. They include Jane Barrett (Founder & CEO of Goldbean), Laura Spiekerman (co-founder of Alloy) and Gesche Haas (founder of Dreamers & Doers). Each of these incredible company founders and tech leaders have had to deal with multiple encounters of sexual harassment and just plain stupid behavior. This topic couldn’t be more timely and each of these company founders I consider to be mentors to me.

Both Gesche and Laura have spoken out previously on this topic and their experiences; Gesche with Bloomberg and Laura with Megyn Kelly. Jane is a superstar and is a routinely sought after expert on finance and investing.

This is their story.

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Special Guests: Gesche Haas, Jane Barratt , and Laura Spiekerman .

Links:

• The journey of going public (with sexual discrimination) Talking about what no one wants to talk about

The Baldwins were the classic American family living the classic American dream. John and Stephanie Baldwin raised their kids in the right neighborhood, attended church, were active in their community in Plano, Texas; and most importantly, were close to their kids. This isn’t a fictional setting either. I knew this first hand. John is a friend of mine and had been an active co-worker of mine for several years. If you asked me to describe someone that exemplified middle-class America I would have pointed directly to John and his family.

Their experience focused on the events surrounding their daughter MacKenzie’s senior year of high school is a story you’d expect from a Hollywood screenwriter. It involves social engineering, potential human trafficking and kidnapping, the FBI, and a cat named Angel. But most importantly, it is centered on a father and mother’s unwavering love and commitment to their daughter. A willingness to do whatever it took to protect their daughter from a situation no of them ever saw coming.

John and Mackenzie have written the book Almost Gone describing this experience and outlining the potential dangers technology and social media have for teens in today’s digital world. They’ve also become frequent speakers on this topic and have been interviewed on multiple media outlets including The Today Show with Megyn Kelly.

This is their story.

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Special Guests: John Baldwin and Mackenzie Baldwin.

I first learned about John when he was named Innovator of the Year for 2016 by American Banker. We’ve got to know each other over the course of a few phone and podcast interviews but never had the chance to meet in person until this interview which we recorded in his Atlanta Operation Hope office.

John was running a little late so I had the opportunity to wander around the room a bit, peruse through the many pictures and awards presented to him over the years, check out the different books and trinkets he has collected; basically get a feel for the man. His office walls are filled with pictures of John with multiple U.S. presidents including George Bush Sr and Jr, Bill Clinton, and Obama. There are also pictures of John with world leaders such as the Reverend Desmond Tutu, Ben Bernanke, Andrew Young, the Reverend Martin Luther King’s family, and my daughter Alex’s favorite Michelle Obama.

Perhaps the most personal and treasured token I discovered; however, was a simple note on John’s desk from Chelsea Clinton. The handwritten note is only two or three lines thanking John for the flowers he had sent her and for being such a thoughtful friend. This note and this gesture sum up my friend John. He thoughtfully and purposely touches the soul of people he meets and inspires. Including me.

You can learn more about John, his interests, and his many endeavors on his website. I also highly encourage you to read his new book The Memo, available now on Amazon.

Special Guest: John Hope Bryant.