Good People, Cool Things

Do you ever meet someone and walk away feeling motivated, like you can accomplish anything in the world? After listening to today’s guest, you just might be ready to run through a brick wall (though you don’t actually have to do that).

Martin Rooney is the founder of Training for Warriors, turning a modest idea into a massive business. He’s continued growing both his business and his network, navigating a successful speaking career among everything else he’s doing. I’ve met a lot of people in my life, and few are as fired up as Martin is about what they do. And lucky for us, he’s sharing some of the mistakes he’s made along the way and what he’s learned from them.  

Martin is also the author of a dozen books, most recently Coach to Coach: An Empowering Story About How to Be a Great Leader and High Ten: An Inspiring Story About Building Great Team Culture. The books are great stories but also drop plenty of knowledge around leadership and building strong cultures within organizations, whether you’re a company of two or two million.

Chelsea Montgomery-Duban Waechter, otherwise known as Chelsea Austin, is a writer, speaker, and self-worth advocate with just the most cheerful personality I think I’ve ever seen. But perhaps that’s no surprise — Chelsea has been sharing a message of love and tolerance ever since she was in high school. 

Growing up with two gay fathers — who are both biologically related to her — Chelsea has been a huge advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. She talks about her experiences on her blog, The Girl with Five Names, and speaks with other inspirational folks on her podcast, Worthiness Warriors. She’s also JUST sent in the final draft of her upcoming book, Inexplicably Me, which is due out in May 2022.

That’s a long time to wait for a book to drop, but luckily Chelsea can participate in great conversations like this one to help alleviate some of that nervous waiting energy. We’re talking all about her book, what it was like growing up with two gay dads in a time when that wasn’t as common, and talk about a bucket list item revolving around cars and music.

Anthony Ianni was diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder, a form of autism, as a toddler. And this was back in the early 90s, when autism wasn’t really a thing anyone knew anything about. As a result, Anthony was told he wasn’t going to succeed in school or sports, but he said “nah, I’m not gonna listen to that.”

Instead, when he was eight years old, Anthony told coach Tom Izzo he was going to play for the Michigan State Spartans. A decade later, he was suiting up and winning all the accolades that come from playing at a prestigious school. Since graduating, Anthony has become an award-winning speaker, traveling all over the place (but the fun kind, not the illegal basketball kind) to share his story and inspire others.

He’s also channeled that story into Centered: Autism, Basketball, and One Athlete's Dreams, his new book (releasing September 7). Some have called the book a modern-day Rudy, but let’s be real: Anthony is impressive enough on his own.

David Shabani started writing raps when he was ten years old, and his experiences have only made him more well-versed since then. He was born to Congolese parents in France and has made his way from Paris to Montreal to Dallas and now Austin. David was listening to rap before he could speak English and now performs with an all-Black band.

His latest EP Shabani’s Smooth Sounds of the Summer came out on August 6 and is full of songs that’ll get your head nodding. With a mix of English, French, and Lingala, it truly is an international record.

David talks about his early days of writing, the worst gig he ever had (and how The Fast and the Furious was involved), dives into his favorite movies, and shares his experience with multiple organizations working to improve the lives of others. 

For 25 years, Eugenia Zukerman served as the CBS Sunday Morning arts correspondent — and she’s been playing her flute around the world for far longer than that. Eugenia has also been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, but despite her “death sentence,” she remains incredibly positive and calm. And she’s spreading that positivity to others as she’s teaching folks how to face their own adversities.

Eugenia is also the author of several books, most recently Like Falling Through a Cloud, a collection of poems about her experience with Alzheimer’s. These poems are a testament to the creative spirit and how starting anything difficult starts with having the right mindset.

Bob Makela, who, quite frankly, puts the Most Interesting Man in the World to shame, shares his wild world experiences in this classic vault episode from 2015. Bob has driven cabs, began a very cool event known as Barstool Poetry, has started an indie press and even has a few podcasts of his own (but please finish this one first). Listen along, won't you?

It seemed like it might never happen, but travel is slowly inching its way back into our lives. However, trying to fit in a trip into a busy career and with plenty of responsibility at home can seem like a daunting task. Can it possibly be done?

Of course it can — that would be a pretty boring podcast episode if I said it couldn’t. Karen Gershowitz is the author of Travel Mania: Stories of Wanderlust and she’s sharing the travel tips and tricks that have gotten her to 90 countries across the world, all while balancing a busy career. In fact, she even got promoted after taking a month off to go to Alaska. Now that’s a fabulous perk.

Bruce McCandless III has never been to space, but you’ve certainly seen his dad gazing at the earth before. Bruce McCandless II began his career with NASA in 1966 and he was Houston’s capsule communicator (CAPCOM) speaking directly with astronauts during the first moonwalk on Apollo 11. And in 1984, McCandless II soared into history during the Challenger mission, becoming the first astronaut to make an untethered free flight. And yes, you’ve certainly seen the picture of this moment.

That picture is also the cover of Bruce McCandless III’s new book, Wonders All Around: The Incredible True Story of Astronaut Bruce McCandless II and the First Untethered Flight in Space. As the title suggests, it’s an intimate look at not just his dad’s story but the growth of the space industry itself.

It’s a delightfully fascinating read, but it’s hardly Bruce’s first foray into writing. And lucky for us, he’s giving an inside look into his other books, from his inspiration to how he was able to write them despite having a full-time job as a lawyer — you know, a really simple profession that doesn’t take up several hours of your day. It’s truly remarkable.

You may not recognize Brian Hersch’s name, but you’ve most certainly played one (or several) of his board games. He’s the mind behind gems like Taboo, Outburst, and Super Scattergories and has provided countless hours of entertainment for millions of people across the world. 

Brian’s latest game, Boom Again, targets a totally underserved market: Boomers, or people born between 1946 and 1964. Yet, much like Brian’s other games, Boom Again focuses on building up a “social lubricant” for players — in other words, even if you don’t know the answer, you’re still having a fun time participating and interacting with your friends, family, or random strangers you like to play board games with.

Check this out: 75 percent of people think they're not living up to their creative potential, and we’re a whopping 96% less creative than we were as children. Luckily, this episode’s guest is sharing tons of good stuff on being more creative and finding big ideas. 

Samuel Sanders is an award-winning entrepreneur who has seen innovation, creativity, problem-solving, and ideation in action at many different levels, from a Fortune 500 company to an Inc. 5000 fastest-growing company to incubators. He also co-founded the company Wundershirt, which did plenty of cool things, including selling athletic training clothing to Olympic athletes preparing for the 2016 Olympics. Today, Samuel runs Heard, LLC, a software application helping governments and large companies get targeted and reviewed feedback from their citizens and employees to improve their decision-making. 

Now it’s your turn. Samuel’s debut book, Your Next Big Idea: Improve Your Creativity and Problem-Solving, provides tools for you to amp up your creativity, solve problems, and figure out ideation so you can turn those seedlings of ideas into real, tangible things.