Growth & Failure

This is the story of TVu, Senior Vice President at Xandr, an innovative ad tech platform and also rapper in the band Magnetic North.

This was an incredibly fun interview for me, I'm not sure if it is because Tvu is also Vietnamese or also went to Cal, but I think it's really because she's just awesome. Professionally, she is a successful engineer and also musically as a rapper!

In this episode, we discuss:

- Her family's immigrant story from Vietnam

- How she got hired as the first engineer at AppNexus despite failing in her interview

- Her rap group, Magnetic North

- How distributed systems embrace inevitable failures

- Graceful degradation (aka how to fail gracefully for non-techies)  

- Emotional hijacking

Please enjoy this interview with the best Vietnamese engineer rapper TVU. - Yinh

To find out more about TVU:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/theresa-vu-486b603/

This is the story of Amanda McCrossin, a certified sommelier and incredible content creator for all things wine related. From the podcast she hosts Wine Access Unfiltered to her YouTube channel and her other social media platforms, Amanda is my favorite wine enthusiast. What I love about her wine style is she makes wine education accessible for the lay person like me who enjoys lots of wine (but seriously has no clue) while keeping up with the likes of Robert Parker when they share a rare bottle of Screaming Eagle!

In this episode, we discuss:

• Amanda's journey from an aspiring Broadway Star
• How she pivoted her career to the wine industry
• Amanda's Maxim: Stay Outside Your Comfort Zone
• Being Head Sommelier at Press in Napa and why she left
• Her growth from failure moments

Please enjoy this conversation with the fantastic Amanda McCrossin. If you'd like to find out more about her, please visit: 

Website: http://www.amandamccrossin.com/

LInkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-mccrossin-0099684/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sommvivant/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sommvivant/

Wine Access Podcast: https://www.wineaccess.com/podcast

On this episode, we discuss:

- Why Jane worked in the US Department of State's Bureau of Counterterrorism

- How she created To The Market, a company that connects business and consumers with ethically made products from around the world

- Her book: Buy the Change You Want to See

- Dealing with rejection

- What fuels her growth

Please enjoy this interview with the incredible Jane Mosbacher Morris. Thanks, Yinh!

Thanks and enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday week!

In this episode, we discuss:

- Barbara's journey focused on public education, starting with an encounter with a friend in 6th grade who was deaf

- How it feels to be a black woman in the field of deaf education, when you switch from being the minority to the majority

- Coaching deaf athletes 

- What education really means

- Being a Mom to three boys AND starting a new school in a pandemic...

Please enjoy this conversation with the amazing Barbara Robinson!

This is the story of Jo Riley, CEO and Co-Founder of Censia, a technology platform that was designed to transform the way companies hire talent. In this episode, we discuss Jo's journey with her athletic scholarship to UVA where she speaks about how rowing changed her mindset. When she retired from rowing, we transition the conversation to her time being in the FBI and ultimately why she left the bureau to become an entrepreneur. 

Jo has traveled to over 110 countries in the last decade as she asks executives around the world three questions: 1) What is your most important asset? 2) What is your biggest problem?and 3)What are you most afraid of? The common theme for all three was what helped launch Censia. Please enjoy this conversation with the remarkable and resilient Jo Riley. 

This episode profiles Candice Myhre and we discuss her ER career starting in LA, why she transitioned to an ER in Hawaii and all of the hardships along the way. We discuss how she got the nickname of Dr. Bikini and why embracing that name will help in her fight to end sexism in the medical profession. 

It's clear that Dr. Myhre is passionate about saving lives but also about living a balanced life for herself, which ultimately makes her a better doctor to others. Please enjoy this episode with the mer-mazing Dr. Candice Myre. Thanks! YInh 

This is the story of Nikki Foster and her journey to being a combat pilot in the Air Force Academy.  

As the daughter to immigrant parents, Nikki shares her journey of being an Air Force recruit, how she got to be an All-American Rugby Player (Two-Time National Champion), discovering her love for flying, and earning EIGHT Air Medals in combat. 

We discuss how she felt leaving her 18-month old at home while she had to serve for her country, what it was like flying over 3,000 hours in combat and the importance of mental health all along the way. I am grateful for Nikki's service and inspired by her strength and integrity. Please enjoy this episode with the remarkable leader - Nikki Foster. 

In this episode, we travel with Shelley around the world from South Africa to Australia before ultimately landing in Japan. All along the way, Shelley amassed over 40 years experience in early childhood education. We discuss her school's mission which includes teaching children how to embrace differences, be confident in themselves, and also to think about sustainability. One of my favorite education stories is from Shelley as she teaches the kids what it's like NOT to have....

This story left me feeling grateful and optimistic. Please enjoy this conversation with Shelley Sacks. 

This is the profile of Jessa Jones, the owner of iPad ReHab. Jessa's story is one of my favorites - she has a PhD in molecular genetics from The Johns Hopkins University and today is a masterful Microsolderer. This episode highlights her journey from slicing up fruitfly eyeballs to fixing logic boards of phones and laptops. We discuss how that transition happened when she smashed open a toilet...

I loved hearing about the emotional connection she has in device recoveries and we talk about everything from porn stars and newborn babies to homicide victims. Jessa's profile and mindset makes me question conventional wisdom (and my perspective of pajamas may have changed forever). Please enjoy this profile of the incredible Jessa Jones.

This is the story of Dr. Leah Lagos, clinical psychologist who specializes in health and performance psychology. Dr. Lagos is known for her pioneering work in heart rate variability biofeedback.

In this episode, you'll hear how Dr. Lagos discovered her passion of sports and performance psychology at the age of 9! And since then, Dr. Lagos has spent decades working with people to elevate their performance further. We discuss her fantastic book: Heart, Breath, Mind that shares the ten-week program she uses with top athletes, CEOs and elite competitors (anyone who needs to perform their best under pressure). Her strategy and research to control your body's physical response to stress has been utilized around the world.  

Please enjoy this conversation with the pioneer - Dr. Leah Lagos.