Feisworld Podcast

Clint authored and edited a number of books (Good Reads). The most recent one is called: The Boys of Everest: The Tragic Story of Climbing's Greatest Generation.

Clint and I immediately sparked a conversation about spirituality, meditation and what it means to live a meaningful life.

When I was a little girl growing up in Beijing, I dreamed of living a Californian life. At the age of 27, I asked Clint: "What if I want to surf?" He responded, "You surf."

Before we get down to business, here are a few fun facts about Clint:

In Part 1 of our interview, Clint dissects the construction of his company, The Writing Company, and answers questions such as:

Eli Schwamm's full episode (Ep. 27) was the single, most downloaded episode of the feisworld podcast. I want to take this opportunity and create a soundbite version of the audio focusing on his stories volunteering at Samaritans Boston. Enjoy!  

Eli is a high schooler, audio engineer, rap singer, song writer, and a volunteer at Samaritans of Boston (suicide prevention) for 2 years.

He started his journey at Samaritans when he was just 16 years old. I remember hearing about it for the first time and not knowing exactly how to react. Instead, I decided to respect Eli’s decision but paid close attention to his journey. I have known Eli since he was a little kid. He has always shown a tremendous amount of compassion for others and deep appreciation for the life we have.

To learn more about Samaritans (how to get help, volunteer and events), please visit: http://samaritanshope.org 

Eli Schwamm is going to be the youngest guest on the feisworld podcast (for quite some time, I expect). At 17, Eli is a high schooler, audio engineer, rap singer, song writer, and a volunteer at Samaritans of Boston for 2 years. 

He started his journey at Samaritans when he was just 16 years old. I remember hearing about it for the first time and not knowing exactly how to react. Instead, I decided to respect Eli's decision but paid close attention to his journey. I have known Eli since he was a little kid. He has always shown a tremendous amount of compassion for others and deep appreciation for the life we have. 

In this episode, I invite Eli to chat with me about philosophy, therapy, music and volunteer:

Nate Delong competed at the 2014 World Muay Thai Federation Championship on Team USA and took Gold Metal for the Pro AM (Pro/Amateur) Heavy Weight Division.

Like many of us, Nate has a full time job. He is a producer at SapientNitro, an advertising agency based in Boston, MA. In this podcast, you will learn about how Nate was able to balance work and his passion to compete on the international stage. 

Nate was introduced to me by Matt Lindley. Matt is my hero and a wonderful guest who appeared on a previous episode of the feisworld podcast. 

If you have listened to some of my previous episodes, it is no secret that I'm a dedicated martial arts practitioner as well. The desire to interview someone like Nate is obvious. But why should you care, or how does this interview benefit you in anyway? 

Ironically enough, much of the learning as a martial artist can apply to regular office job. Not the fight (of course) but strategies that help you improve your interpersonal skills, reading and understanding your clients, managers, peers, even at interviews - what/how can you learn about the person you are speaking to in a split second and respond effectively.

As a fellow martial arts practitioner, I compiled a list of questions I wanted to ask Nate. Whether you are seriously pursuing a career in martial arts or not, I hope you find these questions somewhat intriguing:

To learn more about George Ko, please check out his website, follow and connect with him via Facebook and Twitter.

George earned the title of Young Steinway Artist, appeared with Harvard’s prestigious River Charles Ensemble, the Carnegie Hall for more than half a dozen times, and Steinway Hall that led one critic to proclaim “a rising star if ever there was one.”

With over 2,000 fans on Facebook, George continues his journey of spreading the word for classical music today.

George had an unusual path to becoming a successful pianist. As a young boy, his mom refused to prescribe medication for his ADHD and instead invited a piano teacher to their home. 

What's the purpose of playing music for George? He says that it's about creating an experience that reminds the audience of something important in their lives, or inspires in some way. They are not only enjoying music as entertainment but a piece of reflection.

We also talked about being Chinese / Asian American. George believes: "It is our duty to show people our culture. Being part of this ethnic group is part of being American. America is a melting pot - we are a group of people forming this wonderful fabric of culture and experience that supports one another. 

My favorite part is probably having George play along during the interview while he was giving examples or telling a story. Playing the piano is second nature to George that unexpectly integrated into our conversation. 

In part 2, Lee talks about his yoga workshops, focusing on the 3rd and 5th Chakra. (If you are new to this concept, chakra represents each of the centers of spiritual power in the human body, usually considered to be seven in number). Lee loves creating a forum that fosters healthy dialogues, evoking reactions to help people reflect upon the assumptions and choices they make. It is fascinating when people start to confront and connect, the conversations that arise out of this exercise can be very powerful. 

Lee also addresses the importance of not seeking for constant approvals and agreements. He says, "Knots are not a bad thing. Frictions and disagreements are ok. It's not either, or, but a house with different rooms." Nature made the gun and nurture pulled the trigger. I asked Lee if he believes that openness and curiosity are something people are born with.  

There are, of course, things you are not born with that already chosen for you. Lee shares his stories of revealing his sexuality to his sister and parents, a sweet little tale that involved a Post-It note. 

I opened and closed the interview with Lee's beautify singing. 

There's no better time to release this episode than Valentines Day. What is a relationship? What is love? Do we need to have everything all figured out?

Join my special guest Lee Skunnes today. Standing at 6'9'', he's legitimately 2 inches taller than Tony Robbins. :)

"Don't let perfectionism be in the way of where you get the value from. Perhaps your best isn't always your best, your worst isn't always your worst. The drive to better, faster, more, bigger seem to perpetuate through generations. But perhaps we should take a step back and realize how silly this notion is."

In this 2-part interview with Lee, he reminded me that true wisdom often comes from the messy stuff in life. As an incredibly talented and aspiring yoga teacher, Lee believes in walking the walk by doing the work. He values his students as much as they value him.

For those of you who are interested in becoming a yoga teacher and perhaps have contemplated the idea for a while, Lee offers the most transparent answers to evaluating whether this could be path for you.

There is a very big entrepreneur part of being a yoga teacher including but not limited to self promotion, marketing, personal taxes, etc. You have to be willing to take on these responsibilities or find someone who can free you from these tasks.

"Work is like play for me" says Lee, "You have be grounded among transitions, as well as the depth and capacity needed in order to be a full time teacher."

Claudia is a writer, podcaster, and teacher of yoga. She is the co-author of the Wall Street Journal bestselling book "The Power Of No" (HayHouse 2014) and author of "21 Things To Know Before Starting An Ashtanga Yoga Practice".

Most recently on January 8th 2015, Claudia released her new book called Become an Idea Machine: Because ideas are the currency of the 21st Century. This book has become a favorite read of mine and also part of my daily routine. 

Also in January 2015, Claudia created a new podcast series called The Yoga Podcast after co-hosting a favorite podcast of mine Ask Altucher (with 206 episodes released as of Feb 8th, 2015). 

During our interview, Claudia opened up about a number of topics that had always fascinated me: What is it like to be producing content all day, everyday, across social channels and engaging with your audience? How does Claudia energize and sustain her creative power while working as a multi-disciplined entrepreneur? (To put things in perspective, Claudia now has over 54,000 fans on Facebook, nearly 7,000 followers on Twitter and over 2.6 million views to her blog ClaudiaYoga.com since inception. She is also very active on Quora and Clarity.)

"Money can run out but ideas cannot. When you constantly generate ideas, you become unstoppable." - Claudia Azula Altucher

After reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Maria Kondo just a few weeks ago, Claudia and her husband James threw away 25 years worth of personal belongings. She recalled, "We threw away 60 enormous garbage bags and the living room has been clean every since. It has a profound effect on the mind and everything you do. You gain a new way of seeing things."

One immediate connection I found between Claudia and I is the practice of yoga. ClaudiaYoga.com is her official yoga portal where she discusses teaching, retreat and she encourages anyone to "ask way". 

To untangle the benefits and hype surrounding yoga today, Claudia is most interested in making yoga practical and accessible to people.  She believes that it is a responsibility for those who practice and teach yoga to get it down to what is useful.

Little did I know that some elements in The Power of No are based on the seven levels of yoga starting from the most basic light energy. This book helps you understand what is a compassionate no, how to say no to news coming from the outside, and eventually "you’ll be freed to say a truly powerful Yes in your life—one that opens the door to opportunities, abundance, and love."

The most difficult thing to do is saying no without explanation. Become an Idea Machine is a great follow-up. Claudia's new book helps exercise and motivate people (individually and as a team) to gather and become creative problem solvers.

Monkey mind doesn't have an off switch so it is important to channel our energy into something positive. Life begins to change and transform by itself when we become atomic idea generators.

My favorite and also the most unforgettable moment during our interview is Claudia's advice, a universal message for wome

After announcing the first 1,000 downloads of the feisworld podcast in January 2015, a number of friends, guests and listeners reached out to me via Facebook, Twitter, emails and phone calls. They congratulated me on this significant milestone and urged me to continue my journey as a podcaster. 

Caleb Brown, the first guest on the feisworld podcast, had requested to have me interviewed on my own show. To my surprise, he was not the only one and I had tabled this request for weeks before releasing this episode. Jade Longstaff, a colleague, mentioned my show in her message on Facebook of being aspired to embraced her inner artist-self. Julia Holloway, a guest from Ep. 13, had decided to create her own podcast this year. Ralph Peterson Jr. from Ep 14 and 15 has been using our podcast as part of his teaching materials at the Berklee School of Music. 

I never felt more honored and blessed in my life. 

How did I get there and why did start a podcast with no prior background in audio engineering, nor do I have a trained voice? This interview about me, my life, became an opportunity to ask myself these questions. 

Three months after the release of the feisworld podcast, I have welcomed nearly 2,000 downloads and listeners from 40 countries.