Despite having two hit book series under her belt, it was at this moment that Kimberly caught a glimpse of the publishing industry’s true nature. The world of literature had a short term memory and she was only as good as her most recent book’s sales. No matter how proud she was of her stories or how many book tours she’d finished, it felt like maybe she would never get the chance to reach the same heights. Luckily, this burnout didn’t last forever and Kimberly Derting is here with us today as an established author in both Young Adult fiction and children’s books. She mixes the genres of horror, mystery, and romance to create the captivating narratives of the award winning Body Finder series as well as the Pledge and the Taking trilogies. But before she spun these unique worlds from scratch, Kimberly was an imaginative kid who spent her days reading at the library and checking out the new releases at the neighborhood bookmobile. Words provided an escape from the darkness of her surroundings, banishing her home life and rough and tumble neighborhood with the flip of a page.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You just heard Ali describing one of her breaking points, where a battle for a copyright claim over one of her creations caused her to file a lawsuit. Now, Ali Spagnola, musician, comedian, and artist, has proved herself to be a creator you can’t look away from. With her eccentric dedication to living “outrageous”, Ali has won over 1.4 million tiktok followers and more than 400k subscribers on YouTube with her bubbly enthusiasm and boundless creativity. From turning her car into a chia pet to fighting for the world’s right to party, Ali’s career has been anything but mundane. Yet before music parodies and unusual crafts became her way of life, Ali had already fallen in love with the piano, plunking out melodies on her family’s baby grand…

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Writer, Halloween expert, paranormal historial, and bookseller, Lisa Norton’s entire life is defined by the genre she has devoted her career to. Beginning as a young child in Pasadena consuming a large amount of horror content, she now loves to set her prose in her hometown, creating stories of suspense and supernatural happenings. Lisa is a six-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award for both her fiction and nonfiction work relating to horror and Halloween as well as the former president of the Horror Writers Association. But let’s begin where her love for the spooky holiday began, when she was just a child spending hours building her own costumes.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex Mufson has always been an entrepreneur, from her first imaginary business she began at the age of three years old to a very real horse training company that she ran nearly a decade. But after experiencing deep frustration with the medical system, she felt led to build a values based business to help support others battling similar situations. Without any investors, Alex built the company from zero figures to seven in three years and now is now obsessed with helping others do the same, putting money into the hands of people, and their businesses, who will heal the world with it.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Somehow David has repeatedly found himself at the center of disaster. His most life changing trip through Asia was during the Asian financial crisis, his first big writing opportunity was during the 2008 financial crisis (which resulted in him losing his day job), this earthquake in Japan cemented that position as a writer, and now post covid the world needs the kind of community David is building more than ever. I actually think that’s something the best entrepreneurs have in common. Finding opportunity in disaster. And in David’s case I think he’s able to see opportunity because his breadth of experience is so wide. David was a resource strategist on Wall Street, oversaw natural resource programs at the white House, and even ran a water-focused NGO in Africa. His writing appears in the LA Times, the New York Times, and he’s published a book under Yale University Press called The Elements of Power. While writing this book in internet cafes around the world, David experienced firsthand how working remotely requires flexibility and breathable spaces–which is why he created OutPost, designed to be a safe place for digital nomads to break away from the conventional office. But before he was writing and traveling the world, a life of adventure in his hometown of Trumbull Connecticut had a pretty low bar.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Zach put 40 hours into his YouTube debut only to get 10 views and a spam comment. That left him to question his online identity; was this the end of his short-lived YouTube career? I mean there wasn’t much in his favor. He was starting at the height of covid and the worst of med school just around the corner. I’m sure Zach was questioning whether juggling his work and his passion would amount to anything. But today, Zach Highley’s 454K subscribers are proof that it was well worth the sacrifice. Zach now makes a living as a doctor but also as a YouTuber, and today he’ll share how it all started: the nightmare of applying for med school.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kyukei Goto was saddled with massive responsibility from birth. He was the first born son to his father of 50, meaning Goto would have to carry the weight of a tradition going back 28 generations. He comes from a lineage that has perfected the art of Kamakura Buri which is a method of carving wood and then coating lacquer to make sculptures, plates, tea sets, cutlery and other household items. But this sentence belies the spiritual and technical intricacies of this art form. Facing the death of his father, Goto dove deeper into his artistry and craft as a way to understand his father, his ancestors, but also as a way to understand and explore his own identity as an artist. He now owns the Kamakura Carving Gallery in Japan, selling pieces and hosting workshops to continue the Kamakura tradition. From his bamboo art to his popular exhibition in the Tokyo Art Museum, Goto strives for perfection in his work, and he’s not alone in the practice. With 28 generations to make proud, Goto shares with us the story of how this tradition came to be in the first place…

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Growing up near the beach in Rio de Janeiro, Ivan Moreira lived for the water, first learning how to surf at 5 years old. He was a lifelong amateur surfer, but when his dog Bono joined him on his surfboard, the world took notice. At first it was just something fun for the pair of water loving creatures to do together, but now they travel the world together surfing. The duo has won 5 world championships, set two Guinness world records, and Bono has become one of the first pet influencers. Even though Bono retired from the surfing world earlier this year, now his daughter, Cacau, has taken over his spot on Ivan’s surfboard, winning her first world championship in August. But before the medals and prizes, let’s go back to when Bono was nothing more than a little puppy swimming after Ivan’s paddle board…

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Disheartened by the 37 rejection letters in his back pocket, Daniel was shocked when a hasty bar-pitch landed him with a $40,000 publishing deal. After all, he was still relatively unknown…and his children’s story was odd to say the least. What kind of kid would want to read a faux (FOE) gothic novel about three orphans with a bloodthirsty relative out for their inheritance”? If this plot is sounding familiar…you may have heard of Daniel Handler before—or should we say…Lemony Snicket. Despite Daniel’s slow start in the publishing industry, he has since sold over 70 million copies of his books and become a household name. His literary work has also spawned countless film and tv spin offs, most recently the 2017 award-winning Netflix show “A Series of Unfortunate Events” starring Neil Patrick Harris. But before Count Olaf ever entered the picture, before he spent months writing in a dusty college basement, Daniel started like many other writers do: with a book in his hand.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kobe Earthquake 1995. At 5:46 in the morning, the city was struck by a 6.9 magnitude earthquake, leaving 6,000 casualties and 45,000 others homeless. Nobu Okada was only just out of college when he witnessed this scene of devastation and decided to turn his life towards a path of action and purpose. But what career would he turn to next? Now, we know Nobu as the founder of Astroscale, a company working towards a goal of long term spaceflight safety by targeting space debris in Earth’s orbit. His company has received multiple awards, earning the title of TIME100’s Most Influential Companies, Forbes JAPAN’s “Start-up of the Year” in 2019, and the Grand Prix (pree) for UNESCO’s 2020 Innovation Forum. Despite this incredible growth over the past decade, Nobu’s path did not always lay outside the stratosphere, as his career began in government finance, IT consulting, and business startups. Before we reach for the stars with today’s guest, let's trace his story back to where it began, the innocent days of science magazines and the promise of space camp…

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices