Feisworld Podcast

I met Bob Goodman at Arnold Worldwide, where he served as the SVP, Director User Experience. I had the pleasure to work with Bob on a few projects when I witnessed his stellar facilitation skills and User Experience (UX) approach to various business challenges.

Inviting Bob to my show was triggered by a constant thought in my mind when working with Bob: I always wished to carry a recorder so I could capture his speech and thinking process for tackling difficult situations completely at ease. I also admire his leadership and management philosophy. Bob always had others' best interest in mind without insisting on his own ideas and methodologies. and he is never too quick to jump to conclusion.

In this 40-mins interview, you will find out about:

In October 2014, Bob became an Experience Design / Creative Director at Mullen after practicing being UX practitioner for over 15 years.

Bob enjoys thinking about users, consumers and how they might come about a service or a platform. UX focuses on the idea of a brand narrative and how it interacts with users with the intent of being useful and helpful.

What exactly is UX? There are many definitions you can find on the internet. Bob defines UX as "an approach to design, technology and people that tries to make things useful, usable and engaging". UX is a practice that goes back to late 60s, 70s known as part of "human computer interaction (HCI)" before becoming a more mainstream profession widely known as UX today.

UX can be a confusing term - it's not graphic design, or computer programming. By definition and design, UX is a hybrid discipline that contributed to the challenge of its practice. As agencies expand their missions, UX goes beyond traditional storytelling, or television campaigns.

UX is about letting users contribute in a -way conversation.

In part 2 of our conversation, Chris speaks to his passion for jumping out of perfectly functioning planes.

Since Chris was 6 years old, he thought he would be serving in the US military. Then he asked him - "what really makes me happy?" The answers were design, teaching and making things.

1,200 skydives later, Chris is now comfortable and feels normal when jumping out of planes but he never lets his guard off.

"It's a moment of Zen, nothing else existing except for a small movements in your body. Skydiving as a form of meditation on steroid."

Drag, pitch of your body allow you to move across the sky. "Pencil dive" lets you go over 200 miles an hour vs. diving with your belly is only about 120 miles an hour. 

In closing, I asked Chris what he would say to his 18-20 year old self. He replied:"Let life happen. Don't just hold onto to expectations. Start living." always, with a smile. :)

Chris is a full time, full stack developer at Arnold Worldwide. I had the pleasure to work with Chris on a number of projects. I invited Chris to speak to my audience about his journey of becoming a developer after a few career switches, to staying relevant in this ever-changing technological environment we all live in.

Chris gave much credit to his mentors who set up his success as a developer.  If you don't have mentors in your immediately network, make sure that you take advantage of meet up groups.

Chris also speaks to the possiblity for people who are interested in technology and development to be self-taught.

"You need the personality to learn, create, and constantly seek out new information. Technology is always changing."

"Get out of your comfort zone!" is such an important element to success. Chris emphasizes one of his key takeaways while he was still in school:"When you are in college, you tend to have friends who have similar experience, anxieties because you all have the (more or less) the same staring line." Instead, Chris left his campus and started skydiving, where he met an awesome group of very diverse people who were well along in their careers, including senior developers who quickly became his mentors.

I call this technique "proximity-based learning from extraordinaries" that enabled Chris to learn at a speed that doubled if not tripled the speed of his peers.

Kristina Reed is a producer at Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Kristina produced (and co-produced) a number of animation films including the most recent Big Hero 6, Paperman (won the first Oscar for the Studio since 1969), and The Feast (the short film you see right before Big Hero 6).

I am a wholehearted Disney Animation fan (like many of you out there) since I was a child. Even as an adult, I enjoyed watching Frozen, Wreck it Ralph, Tangled, Kung Fu Panda, Shrek 2, Madagascar and dozens of other films also produced by Kristina.

Much like a little girl in a candy shop, I was so excited to interview Kristina about her experience working at Disney, shepherding an animation through release, the challenge and excitement of telling the greatest love stories.

A typical Disney animation film takes anywhere between 3-4 years to produce. When I asked Kristina about how she manages her own expectations and hundreds of others on the team, she responded:"Producing an animation film is the ultimate team sport. You are never shouldering alone. It is not only about building a personal legacy but also continuing the legacy for Disney."

Ralph wants to be a musician's musician:

"If you honestly play music, then people will feel it. If you play music to people - when they change, your music will have to change."

To following Ralph Peterson Jr., you can connect with him on Facebook, Twitter. Ralph's music is available via iTunes, CD Baby, Amazon and Ralphpetersonmusic.com.

Ralph Peterson Jr. is a renowned American jazz musician and a full-time professor at the Berklee School of Music.

I met Ralph at our Taekwondo school in 2005. Both of us still practice regularly at O'Malley Tae Kwon Do Center. Ralph often volunteers his time to teach drumming to children during Summer and Winter camps at the TKD school.  All the kids thoroughly enjoyed Ralph's teaching very much. I remember seeing their faces pressed up against the school's window waiting for Ralph to arrive with this truck full of drum sets and equipment.

Ralph believes that it's his responsibility to pass his knowledge to the next generation. Passing down his knowledge is the way for Ralph to preserve the traditions he loves."In order to keep a gift, you have to be willing to give it away."

Speaking from his experience, Ralph has apprenticed under some of the greatest jazz musicians of our time including Art Blakey, Betty Carter, Elvin Jones, and Walter Davis. It is also important to study some of the less known drummers who may not be household names as part of the continuum of our music history. "Once you understand this process, you will have a better sense of what the possibilities are going forward. If not, you can 'bump into' things by accident, and you might even become popular." Ralph says, "What's most important to me is to help my students sustain a 30-year career in music, not just releasing a single record."

My guest today is Julia Holloway. I sparked a friendship with her a few months ago. Unlike some of my other guests on the show, I have not known Julia for years but our connection was obvious and immediate. At the time, I was seeking advice from women who have experience balancing a full-time career and a business of their own. In the hectic world we live in today where women often take on more responsibilities at home and at work than men, it was not an easy search for me, and proposing an hour interview on them seemed like a lot to ask.

Julia was very kind to let me into her world and conduct an interview on her professional life.

Julia is a strategic distribution consultant at a leading US provider of annuities and insurance. In addition, she runs her company called Julia Holloway Consulting where she focuses on business consulting and leadership coaching for corporate and individual clients. Julia’s company will be the focus of our discussion.

Those of you who have contemplated starting companies of your own are in luck! We won’t go into details on how to set up a company. There are plenty of tools and resources online for that purpose. Julia will help us understand the multifaceted nature of being a consultant and a coach, and what she finds most rewarding in her practice as well as how she overcomes challenges.

In this episode, Julia explains the Five Coaching Elements integrated with Tai Chi movements during her workshop called “The Alchemy of Awareness“:

“If you create a bigger architecture of awareness with your body, mind and behaviors, that gives you a broader access to yourself and to the world. Furthermore, the more you can ground your awareness, the more choices you have.” – Julia Holloway

Awareness is not only meditation or the idea to constantly controlling your mind. Julia teaches her students about their mind and body connections. Topics and exercises in her workshops involve questions such as: What is awareness? How does it come to you? How does the brain function?

Julia also introduces the Learner/Judger™ mindset created by Dr. Marilee Adams:

“Learner/Judger™ mindset distinctions allow people to shift from blame-focused questions that impede success to solution-focused questions that facilitate it. Whether we ask Learner or Judger questions frames our thinking, listening, behaving, and relating. This is why we focus on our mindset first. The goal is to build a more resilient Learner Mindset.” – Inquiry Institute

Julia’s mind-body workshop is part of the Julia Holloway Consulting and Coaching practice. I further invited her to help us understand the connection between business and therapy.

Barry Alexander and Cosmo Buono are helping classical musicians worldwide launch and sustain careers as professional artists, while also helping build the next generation of audiences.

Alexander & Buono International (ABI) is the parent company of The Alexander & Buono Competitions (ABC), and The Alexander & Buono Festival of Music.

I often refer to ABI as a classical music business empire.  With a single Piano competition in 2003, it quickly expanded to Voice, Strings and Flute, as well as an annual music festival, a not-for-profit foundation, and most recently an Academy (ABIA) launching in January 2015. In this interview, Barry speaks to ABI's philosophy for helping classical musicians launch and sustain their careers.

For years, ABI's seminars have been focusing on training musicians how to perform and understand the business side of music. The Academy (ABIA) came as a natural extension. The Master Class Series under ABIA enable musical students to meet once a month for 6 months - think of it as a platform where artists come together to practice repertoire and ultimately perform at Carnegie Hall for their final recitals. The Master Class Series also teaches musicians how to appear on stage, how to choose the right repertoire, how to perform under pressure and how to manage and triage the unpredictable challenges.

One of my favorite topics with Barry during the podcast is when he discussed his belief in "Talent alone is not enough." In other words - it's not just a question of how talented you (the musicians) are, but how you present the materials".

Alexander & Buono International (ABI) teaches and conditions the musicians to be proactive after winning a competition. "The competition, as a platform, helps you gain as much visibility as possible but the journey doesn't stop there. You have to know how to market yourself including how to write press releases and other subtle procedures." Barry added, "You have to understand how the market works in order to succeed in that market." As part of this process, ABI helps not only de-mystify but also de-mythologize the process.

Speaking of the struggles many musicians face, Barry responds to a misconception he often encounters as a teacher and consultant:"Some students believe that 'I'm only as good as someone else says I am. ABI creates another paradigm, that is: I am as good as my talent and my willingness to work allow me to become." Barry believes that musicians and artists must examine their abilities from inside out, in order to maximize strength and minimize weakness.

O’Malley Tae Kwon Do Center teaches traditional martial art and practical self defense for men, women and children. The program is an individualized and comprehensive approach to helping students achieve their fitness levels. Instead of only focusing on a student’s strength, Mr. O’Malley helps overcome his or her unique challenges.

Mr. O’Malley created a unique program to teach children and adults how to be confident and powerful on the inside and out. In additional to Tae Kwon Do hand and kicking techniques, Mr. O’Malley has made self defense modules a requirement for all students. During day and summer camps at O’Malley Tae Kwon Do Center, Mr. O’Malley creates workshops for young campers to practice power poses,  learn extensive self protection strategy, and participate in anti-bully programs conducted police officers.

Beyond Tae Kwon Do practice, Mr. O’Malley has introduced a line-up of extraordinary people who teach his students in a variety of subjects and skills. Ralph Peterson Jr. (Jazz musician and professor at Berkelee) teaches students how to play drums; Xiang Li (renowned artist from the Forbidden City of Beijing, China) has conducted a series of art workshops for children and adults; Tracy Levesque (artist and assistant instructor) has her beautiful artworks displayed inside the school. Adam Leffert (an experienced technology consultant) who has been Mr. O’Malley’s student since the age of 14 still studies and teaches (part-time) today.

To check out the latest O’Malley Tae Kwon Do Center activities including instructional videos, photos and events, follow them on Facebook. 

I hope you find opportunities to meet and learn from Mr. O’Malley.

Today's guest is Michael J. O'Malley. Mr. O'Malley has been my Taekwondo instructor and mentor for over 10 years. After receiving my first degree black belt in 2005, I continued training under Mr. O'Malley and was able to advance to 2nd degree, and most recently to 3rd degree black belt in 2014. Taekwondo has been a practice for me throughout my college and professional life, and I still look forward to training many times a week.

I feel very privileged to interview Mr. O'Malley. He was chosen for the USA Taekwondo teams from 1978 through 1982,  elected US Team Captain in 1980 and US Team Coach in 1984. In 2007, Mr O'Malley was inducted into the Taekewondo Hall of Fame and eventually received their Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011.

In Part 1, we talked about the first defining competition in his career. What's it like to train 10-12 hours per day as a 14-year old? What's the process to be selected for the US Team? Mr. O'Malley relates his experiences in Taekwondo competitions of the highest caliber, and also shares the relationships he formed with his teammates. Taekwondo competitions helped this Mr. O'Malley fulfill his dream of traveling the world, and helped shape him into who he is today.

In the following episode, we will learn about the Taekwondo school Mr. O'Malley founded, where he continues his teaching as the Principle Instructor today.

O’Malley Tae Kwon Do Center teaches traditional martial art and practical self defense for men, women and children. The program is an individualized and comprehensive approach to helping students achieve their fitness levels. Instead of only focusing on a student's strength, Mr. O'Malley helps overcome his or her unique challenges.

I hope you find opportunities to meet and learn from him.