Inevitable

This episode is part of our new Skilled Labor Series hosted by MCJ partner, Yin Lu. This series is focused on amplifying the voices of folks from the skilled labor workforce, including electricians, farmers, ranchers, HVAC installers, and others who are on the front lines of rewiring our infrastructure.

Brandon Smith is a wildland firefighter and the co-founder and CEO of the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program. Brandon graduated with a Bachelor's from UC Berkeley in Interdisciplinary Studies and Black Studies. After graduation, he worked in education and eventually found his way to wildland firefighting. We previously talked with a hotshot firefighter named James Sedlak to understand the day-to-day details of the job itself. In this episode, Yin and Brandon's discussion focuses on building the firefighting talent pipeline, bringing more awareness to this field of work, and getting more people into it.  

In this episode, we cover: 

• Brandon's background and experience at “fire camp” while incarcerated
• Founding the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program (FFRP)
• The recruitment process
• The challenges FFRP faces
• Fire prevention vs. suppression and indigenous burning practices
• Recertification after incarceration
• History of incarcerated people in firefighting
• The skilled labor shortage
• How folks can support FFRP
• Cross-functional partnerships and breaking down silos

Get connected: 
Brandon Smith
Yin Twitter / LinkedIn
MCJ Podcast / Collective

*You can also reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded on Feb 3, 2023

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• Cody Simms on LinkedIn
• Visit mcj.vc
• Subscribe to the MCJ Newsletter

*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Dr. Julie Pullen is founding partner and chief scientist at Propeller, an early-stage venture fund focused on the intersection of the oceans and climate change. It recently announced that it had raised $100 million for its first fund. Coincidently, today (June 8) is also World Oceans Day, globally recognized by the UN as a day to foster public interest in the protection of the ocean and the sustainable management of its resources.

Today's conversation is about the ocean, its critical role in regulating our climate, how humans have been damaging this balance, and what we can do about it. Julie's work is at the intersection of humanity and the oceans, and her expertise spans climate, weather, and hydro science, with a particular focus on high-resolution coastal urban prediction for flooding, heat waves, and other perils.

Prior to her role at Propeller, Julie was most recently the climate strategist at Jupiter Intelligence, a startup delivering hyper-local projections of climate impact and business risk. And she's an adjunct research scientist at Columbia's Climate School. She was previously an associate professor in civil, environmental, and ocean engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology, where she organized field studies globally to improve our understanding and prediction of the Earth's system. And we could go on further about her amazing credentials at the Naval Research Laboratory and more, but let's jump into learning from her about our oceans.

In this episode, we cover: 

• [2:39] World Ocean Day activities and awareness
• [4:22] An overview of Propeller and Julie's work
• [6:16] The reason behind the firm's ocean focus and its scope
• [8:00] Propeller's ocean investment categories including,  carbon, organics, and industrials
• [10:04] Major challenges and concerns with oceans today
• [13:00] Implications of warming ocean waters
• [15:43] Transition points in ocean health that could lead to cascading effects
• [19:09] The role of venture capital in supporting ocean-based solutions
• [20:53] A brief overview of marine biogeochemistry
• [22:52] Solutions aimed at ocean carbon sequestration
• [25:36] Challenges with measurement and verification
• [28:43] The role of data simulation
• [34:13] Fisheries and food security solutions
• [35:40] Alternative proteins on the market
• [38:44] Julie's time at Jupiter Intelligence
• [41:32] Emissions reductions as a wedge to drive necessary change for our oceans
• [43:30] Ocean-specific pledges like 30x30
• [44:39] The importance of benthic environments and vital ecosystems
• [45:59] What Julie's excited for in the ocean industrials space
• [47:53] How people can get informed and involved in ocean preservation

Get connected:
Dr. Julie Pullen LinkedIn / Twitter
Cody Simms
MCJ Podcast / Collective

*You can also reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded on June 1, 2023

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

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• Cody Simms on LinkedIn
• Visit mcj.vc
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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

This episode is part of our new Capital Series hosted by MCJ partner, Jason Jacobs. This series will explore a diverse range of capital sources and the individuals who drive them. From family offices and institutional LPs to private equity, government funding, and more, we'll take a deep dive into the world of capital and its critical role in driving innovation and progress. 

Rick Zullo is co-founder and general partner at Equal Ventures, a firm that is purpose-built to deploy technology across society and industry. And as they say on their website, they back the non-obvious founders before it's obvious. There are a few categories where they spend most of their time in: retail, insurance, supply chain, care, and climate. 

Rick and Jason have a great discussion in this episode about the origin story of the firm, what makes them different, their strategy, their approach, what it was like to raise Fund I, where they're at today, what criteria they use when they make their investments, what their process is, and how their firm fits into the broader investment landscape in climate and beyond. 

In this episode, we cover: 

• [00:00]: Intro
• [02:46]: Overview of Equal Ventures
• [04:23]: What sectors and stages Equal invests in
• [06:09]: Origins of Equal Ventures
• [08:35]: Rick's thoughts on the "conviction gap"
• [11:02]: Three big questions he asks for every opportunity
• [17:40]: Overview of Equal's Fund I
• [18:13]: Rick's thoughts on reserves
• [24:16]: Equal Venture's differentiators
• [28:07]: Their views on disciplined pricing and founder alignment
• [32:33]: Domain expertise, portfolio balancing, and power law dynamics
• [39:52]: Bandwidth constraints and scaling
• [44:44]: How the climate playbook differs from other sectors
• [51:01]: What Rick's most excited about in climate
• [54:13]: Who Rick wants to hear from

Get connected: 
Jason Jacobs
Rick Zullo
MCJ Podcast / Collective

*You can also reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded on Apr 20, 2023

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• Cody Simms on LinkedIn
• Visit mcj.vc
• Subscribe to the MCJ Newsletter

*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Jessica Morse is the Deputy Secretary for Forest and Wildland Resilience at the California Natural Resources Agency. Our topic in this episode is wildfires, in particular, megafires. Jessica leads California's statewide response to wildfire resiliency. Since 2019, she has secured billions of dollars for wildfire resilience programs, such as community home hardening, forest fuel management (including healthy thinning and fuel break establishment), and watershed health initiatives.

Jessica coordinates and collaborates with state and local agencies, conservation groups, and public and private stakeholders. She works to streamline collaboration for quick and effective problem-solving, addressing the scale and urgency of the issue. Additionally, she navigates the state legislature's budgetary cycles to secure the necessary funding for these programs. For those living in California or other fire-prone areas, wildfires are one of the ways that climate change feels most tangible, and it's heartening to hear how strongly the state has responded to the escalation of extreme mega fires since 2018.  

In this episode, we cover: 

• [00:00]: Intro
• [02:02]: Jessica's background in war zones and wildfires
• [03:37]: Her run for Congress
• [05:01]: Firsthand experience with the Camp Fire in 2018
• [07:53]: Joining the Newsom administration as Deputy Secretary for Wildfire Resilience
• [09:01]: Overview of California National Resources Agency (CNRA)
• [11:11]: Overview of California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE)
• [13:50]: The natural and cultural history of forest fire in California
• [16:13]: The legacy of the Forest Service's fire suppression policy
• [18:44]: Compounding crises of clear-cutting, drought, and pests creating mega fire conditions
• [23:02]: The three fronts of wildfire resilience
• [24:04]: Home hardening and community resilience
• [27:06]: Fuel breaks
• [31:34]: Landscape-level resilience
• [34:34]: Fire's impact on soil chemistry and reduction of water storage
• [38:18]: Securing significant funding for CAL Fire
• [46:52]: Scaling workforce development for wildfire projects
• [48:39]: How goats are helping to mitigate wildfires
• [49:45]: Challenges with woody biomass from slash piles
• [54:02]: Overview of California Vegetation Treatment Programmatic Impact Review (Cal VTP) and California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) process
• [58:00]: Streamlining regulations to tackle environmental projects more efficiently
• [59:53]: Collaborating with diverse partners to drive reforestation
• [01:02:05]: Confronting seed shortages and biodiversity loss caused by fires
• [01:03:39]: How to get involved in wildfire mitigation

Recommended Resources:

• Ready for Wildfires website
• CAL FIRE Ready for Wildfire App

Get connected: 
Jessica Morse Twitter / LinkedIn
Cody Simms
MCJ Podcast / Collective

*You can also reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded on May 18, 2023

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

Connect with MCJ:

• Cody Simms on LinkedIn
• Visit mcj.vc
• Subscribe to the MCJ Newsletter

*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

McGee Young is the founder and CEO of WattCarbon. 

WattCarbon knows the hour-by-hour carbon intensity of the grid for every building in the USA, and it helps identify the real-time carbon savings of distributed energy resources, such as heat pumps, rooftop solar, and storage in commercial buildings. This empowers project developers to sell these carbon savings as building decarbonization credits to companies and organizations with net-zero commitments, helping to accelerate the adoption of these more efficient technologies and speed up the decarbonization of the built environment.

McGee started his career as an associate professor of political science at Marquette University, where he studied the history of political action groups in America. This led him to learn more about environmental movements. As part of his classes, he started having his students hack their way into political action by pulling publicly available data, making sense of it, and publishing their findings. This led McGee down an entrepreneurial journey that eventually saw him leave academia and go all in on a climate tech career. Rather than spoiling any more of his story, listen to hear it directly from McGee himself. 

In this episode, we cover: 

• [2:22] McGee's background in academia 
• [8:09] Early entrepreneurial pathways he explored with students 
• [11:45] McGee's transition to starting MeterHero and its evolution to STEMHero
• [16:45] His time at Open Energy Efficiency and MRV learnings 
• [20:09] The origins of WattCarbon 
• [25:22] Challenges with how we think about carbon accounting today 
• [26:42] An overview of WattCarbon's software solution 
• [30:43] The process for companies using carbon credits as part of their toolkit 
• [34:47] How WattCarbon works with new energy companies 
• [42:04] The role of the IRA in accelerating local regulations
• [44:39] Tenant implications for building owners 
• [46:34] WattCarbon's ideal customers 
• [47:57] The company's status today 
• [48:56] How listeners can get involved 
• [49:52] McGee's takeaways from the recent Clean Energy Buyers Association Summit

Additional resources mentioned in this episode:
Developing Interests: Organizational Change and the Politics of Advocacy by McGee Young
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

Get connected: 
Cody Simms Twitter / LinkedIn
McGee Young / WattCarbon
MCJ Podcast / Collective

*You can also reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded on May 15, 2023

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

Connect with MCJ:

• Cody Simms on LinkedIn
• Visit mcj.vc
• Subscribe to the MCJ Newsletter

*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

This episode is part of our new Capital Series hosted by Jason Jacobs. This series explores a diverse range of capital sources and the individuals who drive them. From family offices and institutional LPs to private equity, government funding, and more, we take a deep dive into the world of capital and its critical role in driving innovation and progress. 

Amy Francetic is Managing General Partner and co-founder of Buoyant Ventures. Buoyant Ventures partners with early stage companies that can rapidly deploy and scale bold solutions, homing in on software and simple hardware. They invest for financial results with a commitment to measure climate impact across their portfolio.

Amy and Jason have a great discussion in this episode about Amy's journey to becoming a venture capitalist, the origin story of Buoyant Ventures, why it came about, how it came about, and some of the behind the scenes details of the process of raising their first fund. They also talk about their strategy for deployment, some examples of investments they've made to date, and how their work fits into the broader climate tech capital stack. 

In this episode, we cover: 

• [01:28]: Updates since Amy was on the pod in 2020
• [03:54]: An overview of Buoyant Ventures
• [07:06]: Amy’s transition from consumer tech to climate
• [08:20]: Founding Evergreen Climate Innovations and Energized Ventures
• [10:48]: Challenges with fundraising for “deep tech” vs. software
• [12:33]: Amy’s views on sectors in climate and her focus on digital
• [15:44]: Measuring diversity, impact, and returns
• [23:31]: Young climate entrepreneurs
• [24:43]: Seeking investors who share Buoyant’s vision
• [30:40]: The role of supportive advisors, including placement agents
• [32:02]: Using sidecar investments and special purpose vehicles (SPVs) to balance fund size
• [34:15]: Evaluating investment opportunities based on deep dive research and market map
• [42:52]: Amy's collaboration with generalist venture firms, especially in software and AI
• [46:04]: Evaluating reserves, product-market fit, and long-term commitment
• [49:12]: Buoyant's key differentiators and "in the trenches" expertise
• [53:44]: Amy's vision for the future of Buoyant and ESG in general
• [57:06]: Who Amy wants to hear from and job opportunities at Buoyant’s portfolio companies
• [58:44]: Jason's updates on MCJ 2023

Get connected: 
Jason Jacobs
Amy Francetic LinkedIn
MCJ Podcast / Collective

*You can also reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded on May 11, 2023

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

Connect with MCJ:

• Cody Simms on LinkedIn
• Visit mcj.vc
• Subscribe to the MCJ Newsletter

*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Michael Thomas is making a name for himself in independent investigative climate journalism. One of his earliest pieces saw him immerse himself in dozens of Facebook groups, organized around opposing local clean energy legislation. He used that exploration to pen a series on climate misinformation, which can be found on his newsletter at distilled.earth, and has recently started creating content on YouTube. He also created Carbon Switch, a Wirecutter-like guide to help people navigate home electrification, which he donated to Rewiring America.

Michael is also a co-founder of Campfire Labs, a tech-focused content marketing agency that donates 50% of its profits to climate action. This has included a significant contribution to Climate Changemakers, a climate action platform co-founded by Cody in 2020.

We started by discussing Michael's motivations for starting his investigative journalism efforts and his climate journey. We then delved into the stories he's written and the investigations he's done. Michael also shared his advice for anyone feeling the itch to get started with something that they might not have prior experience in. Spoiler alert, it involves a strong willingness to embrace and learn from failure.

At MCJ, none of us had prior climate experience, but we believe that as long as you're willing to dive in and do the work, there's so much impactful progress to be made in the climate space. We're seeing more and more people like Michael being called into action every day.

In this episode, we cover: 

• [03:24]: Michael's background and early journalism career
• [06:16]: Moments that catalyzed his climate journey
• [10:02]: His interest in home electrification and founding of Carbon Switch
• [14:14]: Investigating the alarming health impacts of gas stoves
• [17:35]: The origins of Campfire Labs and marketing climate tech companies
• [20:49]: Rewiring America's acquisition of Carbon Switch
• [25:09]: Takeaways from his immersion in clean energy opposition Facebook groups
• [32:05]: Influencers in the clean energy opposition space and their misinformation playbooks
• [37:52]: Clean energy misinformation in right wing cable news and links to big oil
• [45:19]: How anxiety about mining is weaponized against clean energy
• [49:11]: How collective action transformed Amsterdam into a bike-based beacon of hope
• [54:24]: Michael's process for finding topics and publishing his writing
• [57:10]: Potential legal ramifications and dealing with online harassment
• [58:51]: How Michael funds his work, the generosity within the climate creator space, and advice for anyone wanting to jump in
• [01:05:20]: The essential role of popular movements in shaping climate policy

Get connected: 
Michael Thomas Twitter
Cody Simms
MCJ Podcast / Collective

*You can also reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded on Apr 26, 2023

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

Connect with MCJ:

• Cody Simms on LinkedIn
• Visit mcj.vc
• Subscribe to the MCJ Newsletter

*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Brad Hartwig is CEO and founder of Arbor, and today’s topic is BiCRS. No, not the people in black leather jackets cruising down the highway, but rather the acronym for the process of biomass carbon removal and storage, BiCRS. Arbor is developing a process that transforms organic waste from forest thinning to prevent wildfires. The company’s process converts the carbon in the waste into stored CO2, while also producing clean energy and freshwater as byproducts. Specifically, Arbor's process runs wood waste through a light thermal treatment known as torrefaction, which is somewhat akin to roasting coffee beans. They take this torrefied biomass and gasify it into syngas and then combust it with pure oxygen to produce clean water and high purity CO2, which they then run through a highly dense turbine to create carbon negative electricity while injecting the CO2 into permanent sequestration.

The plants that they will build to operate this process end to end will be significantly smaller than existing biomass energy facilities. And Arbor has an audacious vision to own and operate these carbon capture plants in a distributed nature near carbon injection wells and sequestration facilities, selling the excess power that they generate back to the grid or to the facilities themselves. 

We start the conversation going into Brad's inspiring background, which includes time as a rocket engineer at SpaceX and nearly a decade on the USA National Swim Team, while also volunteering for Marin County Search and Rescue and the California Air National Guard. We cover how he surveyed the entire carbon dioxide removal space before landing on the idea for BiCRS and how his aerospace background seemed particularly well suited for Arbor's specific approach.

In this episode, we cover: 

• [2:51] The movement of talent from the aerospace industry into climate 
• [6:28] Brad's volunteer work with the California Air National Guard Rescue Operations and Marin County Search and Rescue
• [8:37] His personal background in aerospace and work at SpaceX
• [15:24] The importance of meaningful service work 
• [19:57] Brad's motivations for getting into the carbon removal space and the thesis for Arbor
• [25:21] Differences between BiCRS and BECCS
• [27:47] How and where Arbor sources materials
• [31:49] Arbor's process for transitioning forest materials into biocarbon
• [35:07] An overview of torrefaction 
• [40:37] The "trilemma" of biomass, CO2 storage, and load demand
• [43:38] How the company plans to scale based on organic waste feedstock availability
• [45:38] Arbor's integrated carbon sequestration and power generation business model
• [50:49] The carbon capture side of the business 
• [51:38] Funding to date and plans for Arbor's future capital 
• [54:27] The challenges of processing biomass
• [56:52] Who Arbor wants to hear from

Get connected: 
Cody Simms Twitter / LinkedIn
Brad Hartwig / Arbor
MCJ Podcast / Collective

*You can also reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded on May 5, 2023

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

Connect with MCJ:

• Cody Simms on LinkedIn
• Visit mcj.vc
• Subscribe to the MCJ Newsletter

*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

This episode is part of our new Capital Series hosted by Jason Jacobs. This series explores a diverse range of capital sources and the individuals who drive them. From family offices and institutional LPs to private equity, government funding, and more, we take a deep dive into the world of capital and its critical role in driving innovation and progress. 

Hampus Jakobsson is General Partner at Pale Blue Dot, a seed-stage venture capital firm that backs the most exciting climate tech startups across Europe and the United States.

We were excited for this one because Hampus is a software engineer, turned founder, turned angel investor, turned VC. He also grew up working in areas of more traditional tech that didn't involve climate, and only recently pivoted to devoting all of his professional attention to building a climate investment firm, a story that's relatable to many.

In this episode, we cover: 

• [2:42] An overview of Pale Blue Dot 
• [5:01] Hampus' feelings about the climate problem and how they've evolved 
• [9:19] The early days of Pale Blue Dot's first fund 
• [13:08] How Hampus balanced his time getting the first fund closed vs. planting the seed directionally with LPs 
• [18:14] His strategy and thesis before going to market compared to where Pale Blue Dot is today
• [22:43] The firm's approach to the first check vs. follow on
• [27:50] Different areas of climate Pale Blue Dot invests in 
• [31:02] The Pale Blue Dot founder 
• [35:03] The firm's decision process on potential investments 
• [43:23] Sector expertise and Pale Blue Dot's diligence process
• [52:57] Hampus' thoughts about impact and how Pale Blue Dot measures it
• [57:08] Reporting and important metrics
• [01:03:24] Pale Blue Dot's geographical footprint 
• [01:06:31] The firm's mix of LPs 
• [01:10:19] Hampus' thoughts on the role of fossil fuel companies in the energy transition 
• [01:19:06] An overview of The Drop conference

Additional Resources: The Overstory by Richard Powers

Get connected: 
Jason Jacobs
Hampus Jakobsson / Pale Blue Dot
MCJ Podcast / Collective

*You can also reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded on April 17, 2023.

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

Connect with MCJ:

• Cody Simms on LinkedIn
• Visit mcj.vc
• Subscribe to the MCJ Newsletter

*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Lori Lodes is the executive director of Climate Power, a strategic communications operation focused on building the political will and public support for bold climate action. It was founded going into the 2020 US presidential election and played a key role in establishing climate as core messaging pull through for the Biden campaign and Build Back Better agenda. Before stewarding Climate Power, Lori spent a handful of years in corporate communications at Apple. She was deputy director of communications for Hillary Clinton's campaign in 2016, and she spent many years working on communication initiatives for the Affordable Care Act and healthcare.gov.

We were looking forward to talking with Lori to hear how she's taking her learnings from managing communications efforts at the highest levels of corporate and political initiatives, and applying them to climate. In the few short years that Climate Power has been active, it's shifted from helping place climate on the Biden campaign agenda, to supporting the passage of landmark federal climate legislation, to now highlighting stories of successful policy implementation at the state and local level. It's an ever-shifting chess board, and our chat with Lori helped us recognize just how much the conversation on climate has evolved in the national discourse in a few short years.  

In this episode, we cover: 

• [02:39]: Lori's background and initial reluctance to engage with climate
• [05:19]: Lori's move to Apple after working on the 2016 Clinton campaign
• [06:55]: How her experiences in government and at Apple have informed her communication strategy
• [11:49]: Lori's work with John Podesta and the origins of Climate Power
• [16:42]: Transitioning the climate conversation to the mainstream
• [18:38]: Climate Power's strategy to make climate a political issue and the urgency of the 2020 election
• [24:52]: The rise of climate as a "kitchen table issue" during the COVID crisis in 2020
• [26:40]: Aligning stakeholders and messaging to create favorable conditions for climate action
• [29:33]: The Inflation Reduction Act and clean energy job creation, particularly in Republican districts
• [32:03]: The challenges of the "implementation" phase of policy, and the importance of highlighting the benefits of climate action
• [36:34]: Climate social media influencers at the White House and "surround sound" communications
• [40:16]: How to get connected with Lori and Climate Power

Get connected: 
Cody Simms
Lori Lodes
Climate Power Website
MCJ Podcast / Collective

*You can also reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded on April 27, 2023

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

Connect with MCJ:

• Cody Simms on LinkedIn
• Visit mcj.vc
• Subscribe to the MCJ Newsletter

*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant