Larger Than Yourself

Sheela Murthy has lived an incredible life. Born and raised in India, Sheela's parents instilled a work ethic in her that propelled her onto a global stage. Armed with a law degree from Harvard, and based on her own poor experience in optioning a green card, Sheela set out to reimagine immigration law as we know it through the Murthy Law Firm.

Tara Ryan is the founder of the Heal the Healers Project, a powerful nonprofit that provides emotional support for nurses on the front lines. Driven to serve based on life threatening burns Tara experienced when she was only nine months old, and the trauma that came with it, Tara has committed her life's work to taking care of others.

Joe Jones is the founder and CEO of the Center for Urban Families. Addicted to heroin, selling drugs, and arrested before he was legally able to drive, Joe decided he had a larger purpose in life. He set out on a journey to create an organization that would dismantle poverty, and he's systematically chipping away at that every single day.

Brandon Scott is the 52nd mayor of Baltimore City and he's on a mission. As 37 years old, he's the youngest mayor Baltimore has had in over a hundred years. In this episode Brandon talks about his lifelong passion to serve his city, his commitment to reimagining what it means to be an elected official, why he is challenging the status quo, and the hard questions he's asking that will eventually move the needle.

Watkins is a New York Times bestselling author, world renowned speaker, editor and teacher. In this inspiring conversation, D. and I talk about being a new dad, about him being a product of the crack era and living to be able to tell that story, about the racism and crime that are crippling our country, about the importance of building community and more importantly, protecting that community once you've made it.

Aaron Henkin is an award-winning radio journalist and podcaster. In this episode, we dive deep into understanding how his radical agenda to show up with no agenda led to the creation of the hit series, Out of the Blocks, and how it grew into a movement that reimagines radio as we know it.

Ericka Alston-Buck is a divine force whose life work has been to amplify the voices of change agents and magnify the work being done by others to positively impact the world. In our conversation we discuss her being tested as a genius at eight years old, the weight of having her first child at 15, her recovery from being addicted to crack cocaine, her creating the Kids Safe Zone in response to the Freddie Gray uprising, and her burning question of Why is this all OK?

Nnadagi Isa is the co-founder of Lor Tush, an incredible company that is reimagining toilet paper as we know it. In this episode, we discussed the influence of growing up in America with Nigerian parents, her experience being homeless, the music album she helped go platinum, and the creativity that brought Lor Tush to life.

Daniel O'Connor is the founder and chief storyteller behind Panacea, an amazing organization that is healing communities, one complicated conversation at a time. Dan saw a lack of positive narratives in the media around themes of love, empathy, and forgiveness and decided to do something about it, which launched him on a journey that may just unite the world.

Fagan Harris is the co-founder and CEO of Baltimore Corps. He's also one of my heroes and one of the most thoughtful people I know. In the episode we talked about hustle, the Rhodes Scholarship, death, life, purpose over profit, nonprofit vs. for profit, Baltimore Corps, Lexington Market, and the fight for racial equity.