Feisworld Podcast

Alyssa Ackerman (@alyrose15 on Instagram) is a Michigan native with a passion for travel and studying humans. From the road, she’s a Digital Marketing consultant, content creator, yogi, hiker, and photographer.

In January 2016, Alyssa headed out in a DIY van to explore the United States. She converted her vehicle into a fully functioning unit including DIY sink build, storage shelf and table, cushions and curtains, extending couch and bed, (even) a solar panel installation. She created an entire DIY section on her website.

Alyssa also brought her marketing strategy and social media skills along on the road. Instead of traveling like a tourist, she decided to tell stories. Not just her own, but others' as well along the way.

(Timestamps are approximate): 

• [02:40] Who is Alyssa Ackerman?
• [03:18] What triggered Alyssa to start such an adventure?
• [08:20] How is Alyssa journaling her experience?
• [12:00] Who are the people that Alyssa visits/networks with?
• [14:53] What are the most interesting interactions with Alyssa’s network/followers/family? 
• [18:20] How is Alyssa trading of financial stability and spiritual freedom?
• [22:57] Alyssa’s comments about freelancing and the new world trends in working remotely.
• [24:41] How is Alyssa dealing with nutrition and health while on the road? (She wrote this article for MindBodyGreen)
• [32:12] How did Alyssa handled the transition to ‘solo-travel-time’?
• [35:40] How does Alyssa deals with emotional challenges?
• [38:01] How to spot a safe place to park/sleep in an unfamiliar place?
• [40:55] Alyssa speaks to the use of technology to fight loneliness
• [43:55] Personal finance on the road
• [45:40] How does Alyssa spend her 'free time'?
• [51:20] Alyssa’s comments about the future.

• My family is happiest when I am not posting, because it means I am living and not thinking about capturing and sharing for other people.
• One major thing (this trip) helped me learn is to be intentional about my social circles. It helped contextualizing it.
• The biggest financial mindshift is simply that I can live with A LOT less...
• I’m not so focused on saving more, but I’m learning how to spend very little and that will continue to

Chris Voss (@VossNegotiation) was an FBI special agent (of 24 years) who specialized in international hostage negotiation.

In 2008, Chris founded a business negotiation consulting firm called the Black Swan Groupwhich offers services and learning opportunities to “Anyone who needs to negotiate, persuade, or influence”.

“Everything we’ve previously been taught about negotiation is wrong: you are not rational; there is no such thing as ‘fair’; compromise is the worst thing you can do; the real art of negotiation lies in mastering the intricacies of No, not Yes.”

Whether you have been told that you are already a good negotiator, or if you find negotiation intimidating and uncomfortable, this episode will help you refine your tactics and breakthrough the barriers.

• 5:30 How does Chris create a playful and relaxing atmosphere for teaching negotiation?
• 7:15 Why is it a bad idea to wait for “yes” or “you are right” during a conversation?
• 9:00 “Do you have a few minutes to chat?” turns out to be a terrible pitch when you are trying to get people’s attention and respect their time.
• 13:00 Common negotiation mistakes people make but are not aware of.
• 14:45 Difference in negotiation between men and women (and why some answers to this questions could be misleading)
• 19:15: How does Chris encourage people to learn negotiation? (Comfort is the biggest barrier, not complexity)
• 22:00 How can people practice negotiation on a daily basis?
• 27:30 Is it possible to identify and avoid harmful people who are using negotiation strategies for the evil, not the good?
• 30:30 Origin stories: What was Chris like as a 10-year old boy?
• 34:30 Significant changes Chris has noticed when transitioning from a FBI agent, to a professor, to the CEO of his own business.
• 41:30 How did Chris calm himself down during stressful and (often) dangerous situations?
• 47:15 How does Chris “get out of his own way”? (We are often our own worst enemies and obstacles)
• 49:30 People & teachers Chris chooses to follow and learn from

DO YOU ENJOY THIS EPISODE? If so, please subscribe to Feisworld Podcast directly through your mobile phone, or click here to access our iTunes page. Thank you! 

What's more important - financial or spiritual independence? https://www.feisworld.com/blog/financial-vs-spiritual-independence

To answer this question, I want to share a few personal stories from my childhood (in Beijing, China) to my transition as a high school student in the US.

What is it like to grow up as a woman in the 21st Century? How do career, womanhood, motherhood intersect? How and when do we learn our own set of personal values?

Before we dive in, I want to clarify that "spiritual" here does not refer to religion, rather we are discussing the human spirit.

Thank you for joining me on Feisworld Mini - a series of 5-10 mins episodes that share thoughts and observations from podcast host Fei Wu.

Born and raised in Greece, educated and lived in the UK for 4 years, Eirini Tornesaki has been working with Cirque Du Soleil in the show KURIOS - Cabinet of Curiosities since January 2014, touring Canada and the United States.  Eirini is the original singer of KURIOS and performed the vocals on the soundtrack album recorded in Montreal and released in November 2014.

When KURIOS came to Boston in May 2016, I was eager to see it live. The music hit me right away. I saw a petit, beautiful woman singing in the background. Her costume so elegant, her voice so pure, and her presence so powerful. I reached out to Eirini and invited her to my podcast.

• How was Eirini recruited by Cirque du Soleil? What was the process like?
• What are the changes and decisions she had to make in order to work for KURIOS?
• What special training did she go through to become the singer she is today?
• What do she fear during the show? How does she manage mistakes and when things go wrong?
• What's the a Day in the Life of Eirini?
• Why does she believe that "you should not focus on your mistakes in the show"?
• How did she grow up in Greece? How does she manage to sing in many languages?
• How did Eirini survive bullying in school? How can parents and our society support children who have been bullied?
• Eirini's experience watching KURIOS for the first time as part of the audience.
• "Your life leaves you when you enter the circus." 

Listen while you browse on feisworld.com: http://wp.me/p5fQiP-C4

Nat Novak is a studio manager, a maker of all things at Brand Content, an agency based in Boston. He and I met at Arnold Worldwide in 2013. 

In the years I have known Nat and while we worked at Arnold, we were both running around the office just like everyone else. From time to time, we would slow down our footsteps to have meaningful and philosophical conversation. I always wanted to capture those moments and glad we finally did. 

Nat is not only interesting to talk to, but also a bit superhuman in my mind. He can make anything, from any material, with his bare hands.

To learn more about Nat, please visit his website at: http://nat4369.wix.com/4369

Many people asked me if there are ways to make decent money effortlessly through running a podcast. If the answer is no, then they ask “What’s the point?”

By the way, if you are new to podcasting, every 10,000 downloads translate to just about $400 in sponsorship revenue. Most podcasts struggle to reach 10,000 downloads per month and $400 a month isn’t enough for anyone to work on a project full time. Podcasting can be labor-intensive. On average, it takes hours (if not days) to produce one episode.

Running a quality podcast, seeking interesting guests is a great deal of work. Getting people to listen to your podcast is no easy task. But, the monetization model doesn’t need to downloads exclusively. This blog post covers some of the unusual factors and opportunities to making a profit through podcasting.

I actually think these methods are much easier than the usual path, which is to grow your podcast to X number of downloads per month (usually in the millions), then look into sponsorship opportunities.

This episode is also a blog post on  http://www.feisworld.com/2016/05/09/three-unusual-ways-generate-revenue-podcast/

Glenn Engler (@Glennengler) is a Managing Director at Parthenon EY. Previously, he was the Global Chief Strategy Offer at Edelman, CEO at Digital Influence Group and President of Digitas Boston for nearly 10 years.

Glenn is an industry veteran with nearly three decades of experience in business strategy, marketing, brand development, and communications. This is a rare opportunity for me to connect with Glenn not only on a professional but also a personal level.

He has guest lectured in undergraduate and graduate school courses in many universities in Boston. He also hosted a bi-weekly podcast series called Market Edge, interviewing industry-leading marketers and innovators.

Business aside, Glenn is a member of the Advisory Board for Organize, a non-profit organization to end organ donation crisis.  He is also on the Board of Directors for Horizons for Homeless Children, where he is a member of the Executive Committee and co-leads the Development & Brand Strategy Committee. 

In our podcast, we dive deep into Glenn's leadership experience, style, five people who have inspired him. We also talked about the world of digital strategy, social media, a mash-up of fascination. 

Glenn addresses the importance of having different talents and disciplines: the compulsive organized side to help compliment creativity. They have to go hand in hand - if not, it'll just be wonderful chaos that doesn't go anywhere. But most importantly, we have to see people as people.

This one-hour podcast shares many of Glenn's success stories, as well as challenges while he led some of the biggest and most recognizable agencies in Boston, United States and Worldwide.  It's not just about work - family always comes first. 

If you enjoy this episode, please help share with others. Thank you for joining me in this movement to celebrate real stories by real people, from all walks of life.

In this episode, Fei will answer the following questions in 12 mins: 

Please tell us a little bit about what each of your positions entail and how they involve social  media.

What steps did you take, hoops did you have to jump through, in order to obtain a position in  your field?  

How do you and your organization use social media?  What was difficult about integrating its  usage?   ­

What are the benefits and dangers you have experienced concerning social media?

What initially interested you in your field or position and how has it changed in recent years?

How do you feel communication trends in general have changed in your field in the last  decade?  What are the newest trends?

Talk about how the internet, and more specifically social media, has changed the role and impact of your position? 

What types of careers involving social media do you feel are becoming more prominent today?  Why? 

What types of careers are being created by social media?

What are the current trends and skills you think employers in your fields are looking for in recent graduates?  How would one break into your market? ­

What are some timeless traits or characteristics employers favor?  What traits do you feel will  help one succeed working in communications today?  ­

Do employers in your field search a job candidate’s social media profiles when assessing them  as a potential hire? ­

Can you discuss an instance where possessing effective writing or speaking skills helped you in your position?  How important do you feel oral and written communication are in your  positions? 

What is the future of social media in your field/position?

Jonathan Bingham (@jwbingham ) is the CEO at @janeirodigital "a team of creative problem solvers, committed to leveraging digital expertise for the benefit of businesses across all verticals."

When I first set foot in Janeiro Digital in Boston MA, I noticed a giant mural that reads RADD (Research, Analysis, Design and Development). The slightly faded paint around the characters reminded me of an old school skatepark.  Jonathan walked over and greeted me with a smile. He wore casual skater clothing from head to toe, looking incredibly confident and comfortable. We sat down on the couch in front of RADD and began talking about skateboarding non-stop.

This podcast is an opportunity for me learn directly from Jonathan on the business side of things (plus a little more skating and sailing as candies for you guys). Jonathan shared his management philosophy as the CEO at Janeiro from its infancy 9 years ago to today, a thriving community of nerds (they are proud of that). These creators hustle everyday to try new things, invent solutions that did not exist before, fail fast (but not permanently), assess risks, get up and do it again. They are a diverse group of passionate people who believe in the company and its culture, created by Jonathan and his brother Justin.

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