Today I’m joined by Mike Meyer who serves as Head of Global Sales and Trading at Seaport Global. While the two of us touch upon business, however, the focus of our conversation today is on Mike’s passion project, a documentary called (In)Visible Portraits that is dedicated to celebrating American black women in the past and present while looking with hope towards the future. Mike shares with listeners his inspiration for the project, how it came to be made, and the impact he hopes it will have on its audience.  

Mike describes (In)Visible Portraits as a “love-letter to black women,” explaining that the idea for the project came to him after watching Isiah Thomas’s Hall of Fame induction speech, where he became overwhelmed with emotion as he addressed his mother and talked about the incredible influence she had on his life. Watching Thomas’s speech stuck with Mike, and he realized that women like Mary Thomas are some of the most important Americans who get up and face challenges every day but never receive the recognition they deserve. Because of this, Mike’s project began as a celebration of black mothers. 

While (In)Visible Portraits was first released on Juneteenth 2020, Mike explains that the project took over ten years to come into fruition. He talks about the difficulty of finding a director for the film until a mutual friend introduced him to filmmaker Oge Egbuonu, who took on the project. While the film wasn’t set to be released until later in 2020, the team decided it best to release it on Juneteenth after the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor brought revived awareness to the racial tensions and injustices still alive in the United States. As Mike shares, his hope for the film is that it will bring both emotion and an awareness to its audience that will then make its way through society. He hopes for the film to one day become a part of the education system and taught at all levels. 

Listen in to learn more about Mike’s influences, his next initiative for fighting against racial inequality, and the film’s development, and be sure to tune in on March 2 at 9 p.m. ET/PT as (In)Visible Portraits premieres on the Oprah Winfrey Network. 

What You’ll Learn in This Podcast Episode:

On today’s episode, you’ll learn about (In)Visible Portraits, a documentary dedicated to celebrating American black women in the past and present while looking with hope towards the future. In addition to learning about the documentary itself, you’ll also learn from executive producer Mike Meyer about what inspired the film and how it got made. 

Helpful Links:

To learn more about (In)Visible Portraits and watch its trailer, check out the documentary’s website at: https://www.invisibleportraits.com/

On today’s episode, we’re talking all about STEM, a field that’s projected to grow 13% in the decade spanning 2017-2027. With this future in sight, I sit down today with MLB Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson and Dr. Alan Gomez, two men who respectively serve as the founder and executive director of the Mr. October Foundation. Together, the two share with us the Foundation’s educational goals, its commitment to serving under-privelaged youth, and how they hope for the program to impact and improve communities across the United States. 

Our conversation begins with Mr. October himself, as Reggie Jackson talks about what drove him to create the Mr. October Foundation in the first place. He explains that while he has always been dedicated to helping schools and children, it wasn’t until someone recommended he become involved in the STEM field that the seeds for the program became planted. Reggie found that while the STEM field is clearly where the future is headed, many minorities were not being provided the educational opportunities needed to introduce them to the field. So, he saw this as a need he was able to help with and began devoting his efforts to supporting and educating minorities, believing it the best way to better develop educational equality. 

Alan Gomez then shares how he and Reggie became connected and were able to begin developing and branching out the Mr. October Foundation across the country. He explains that the program is designed to help within all community types, whether they be urban, suburban, or rural, and talks about the success they’ve already had with thousands of students in areas such as the Bronx, Detroit, and Oakland. He also emphasizes how important the program has been especially during the Covid-19 Pandemic and how it has worked to ensure that children continue to have hands-on intellectual tools available to them from wherever they may now be learning. They have done so through an educational resource skill kit where students can conduct experiments at home that range from building their own speaker, to growing lettuce, to practicing First Aid. 

Finally, my two guests close our conversation today by discussing that while their program can also help adult learners with retraining or pivoting in their career, they are hoping that by providing the means for children to explore their interests across a number of STEM fields, in the future they will be able to lower the need for someone in their mid-thirties to return to education programs and change careers. More than just preparing children for their own future though, both Reggie and Alan see this type of education as a means to better the community, recognizing that one day these students will be able to contribute to their communities as competent, future employees capable of bringing about social change. 

To learn more about the Mr. October Foundation, its goals for the next 3-5 years, or how you can bring the program into your own community, be sure to listen in! 

What You’ll Learn in This Podcast Episode:

In today’s episode, you’ll learn about the Mr. October Foundation, the work it’s doing to provide educational opportunities in the field of STEM to minority and under-served students throughout the United States, and why this work is so crucial to creating a better future for our communities. 

Helpful Links:

Learn more about the Mr. October Foundation at https://mroctober.org/

Welcome back to the Mentors and Moguls podcast with your host, Heather Stone. Today, Heather is joined by Kristen Bowes Burke, who is serving as general counsel at Mercy College in New York.

Kristen has always knowns she wanted to go into law. She grew up loving politics and was infatuated with the substantive and leadership aspects of that career path, and even wanted to become president when she grew up. Law was a pathway for that, as the two are so intertwined. 

Kristen’s path to college was built on a unique combination of skills and passions. There are many avenues to getting into an institution and graduating with a degree, and for Kristen, sports were a hugely important part of her life and played a key role in her journey. She grew up playing team sports in soccer and basketball, building tremendous courage and leadership skills. It was a part of her identity. Confidence was built there. Since she was a little girl, she advocated for herself to try out for state teams, olympic development teams, and beyond. 

Through sports and outstanding academics, Kristen was accepted into some of the most prestigious colleges and universities in the nation, including Harvard, Yale, and Cornell. Kristen reminds us that even she received financial support from the places she was accepted. The resources are out there for those who are overcoming that hurdle. Look at whatever talent you have and include that in what you present to schools--they are looking at well-roundedness as well, not just grades. 

After college, Kristen knew she was going straight into law school. Her philosophy was to get into a school and do the very, very best that she could. Through a powerful internship and an influential mentor, Kristen discovered her passion for law at the state and District Attorney level. She was patient in her search for a law firm to work at, however. She wanted to be a prosecutor and never took her eye off the prize. Her advice is to stay absolutely committed to your end goal and never lose sight of it. 

Kristen’s most important and best decision of her life, she says, is working in the Bronx DA office, and it’ gave her the skills she needed to do anything you could imagine. The pressured and quick-thinking environment was truly a test of her intelligence, persistence, and tenacity. She had a boss that really looked out for her that helped her get over the hump. She would be the only woman in the room of forty men leading incredibly important meetings and preparing the blueprint for task forces. 

She now mentors young women in law having them shadow in her office. She did some work in a sexual discrimination case that gives her the most pride. She worked with students and task forces to create policy at a college level. Six months later, what is now known as Title XI, was widely released. Kristen was ahead of the curve. She would train and educate community members and students on the policy and her background on it. 

The common principle, the throughline throughout her career, was to do everything to the max and do whatever you do intensely. When her parents got divorced, she had a huge amount of people who invested their support in her. Now, everything she does is to make them proud. 

Things You’ll Learn

On today’s episode, leading woman in law and general counsel at Mercy College in New York, Kristen Bowes Burke shares with us her pathway to college, impactful mentors and internships she experienced, and how she is passing the torch through educating young women going into the field of law.

Are you looking for advice on how to do what you love and be successful at it? If so, then today’s episode is for you! Today I’m joined by Nick Onken, a world renowned photographer and creative entrepreneur who has worked across continents and with numerous celebrities such as Justin Bieber, Cody Simpson, and Usher, just to name a few. Nick shares with us insights into his career as a photographer and the importance of being persistent when it comes to combining art with business and turning a passion into profit. 

Nick begins our discussion by explaining how his career began in graphic design but changed once he discovered his passion for photography. Realizing that photography was where he wanted to focus his career, he then spent years and thousands of hours practicing and honing his craft, insisting that for anyone looking to build a career in the arts, you have to be willing to keep grinding and refining your work in order to build a solid portfolio.

While Nick’s favorite part of his career is the freedom it gives him to be his own boss, he talks about the uncertainties that can come from running your own business, citing his own highs and lows as examples and sharing how one big break might be followed by years of smaller jobs. Nick’s advice is to recognize that success is not a straightforward path but instead requires constant persistence and the willingness to adapt with the shifting market. 

In addition to discussing his career as a whole, Nick also provides listeners insights into the different aspects of working as a photographer, discussing the more logistical demands of his work such as the accounting, negotiating, networking, and self-marketing it involves. In particular, Nick emphasizes the benefits that can come from working with a good team of people with whom you can build a creative camaraderie. 

As we begin wrapping up our conversation, Nick reiterates to listeners how important it is for entrepreneurs to continually work on their personal development and emotional navigation. He explains that because emotions and beliefs are often what dictate a person’s capabilities, being able to shift your beliefs can help you and your work continually grow and expand, noting that such a mindset is especially important amongst the conditions of a global pandemic. 

To get Nick’s full advice for artists and hear more about his exciting work and upcoming projects, be sure to listen in to today’s episode! 

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

In today’s episode, you’ll learn about the highs and lows that come from running your own business, the necessity for artists to continually be building and refining their craft, and tips for combining art and business in order to turn passion into profit. Nick also shares information about his personal career, and how he’s come to find success and fulfillment through his work. 

Helpful Links:

Find Nick on Instagram: @photographsbynickonken AND @nickonken

Check out Nick’s website at: https://photographsbynickonken.com/

Today we're joined by Maria Yap, the Vice President of Digital Imaging at Adobe who shares with listeners her experience working in design, a career that blends together creativity and technology. Together we talk about digital imaging, AI, diversity in the workplace, and how to craft a dream career and love what you do. 

Maria begins today’s conversation by explaining how design work is largely about problem-solving and learning how to plan and visualize the message you want communicated. She also explains how AI has been growing within the field and how it allows for creators to focus their energies on creativity and communicating their vision while the AI takes care of the more mundane tasks of the job. Maria shares insights into her experiences working at Adobe specifically, discussing many of the tools and filters Adobe has developed as well as the company’s approach to helping customers.

In terms of her personal career journey, Maria explains that while education and schooling is a very linear path, a career itself is very nonlinear. Because of this, she encourages listeners to not try to force a linear career path but to instead focus on their passions and what they want to learn and to use these motivations to drive them forward. She shares that some of the best advice she ever received was to ask herself: What’s the worst thing that could happen if I try this thing? She then recommends that listeners ask themselves the same question when thinking about their own career choices. 

In addition to talking about her career as a designer, Maria also discusses the importance of diversity when it comes to building a team in the workplace and how diversity can help lead to some of the most innovative solutions. She shares that when assembling her team, she looks for two key characteristics: growth mindset and having a vision for the role. She also talks about practicing servant-leadership, which is a form of leadership in which the leader acts in a way that best serves the members of her team. She explains that having empathy for both her team members and her customers has been one of her best tools as a leader and designer. 

For more advice from Maria on how to enter the design field as well as more tips concerning mentorship, leadership, and complex problem-solving, be sure to listen in to today’s episode! 

What You’ll Learn in Today’s Podcast: 

On today’s episode, you’ll learn more about the careers of design and software development and how they come to unite creativity with technology. Maria also shares with listeners advice on career paths, problem-solving, mentorships, and the importance of working with a diverse team of people. 

Helpful Links:

Follow Maria on Twitter and Instagram @mariayap

On this episode, I’m joined by Chalene Johnson, a world-renowned health expert, motivational speaker, New York Times best-selling author, podcaster, and trainer who has sold millions of fitness videos. Today, Chalene shares with listeners her insights into the business and marketing world as well as offers advice regarding fitness and nutrition. Whether you’re looking to start your own business, learn techniques for managing a work-life balance, or are simply wondering how to lose that Covid-19 weight, this episode is for you. 

Chalene begins our discussion by talking about her early experiences in business and marketing and how she created her own businesses in order to pay her way through college. She then explains how after college, she took on a number of different jobs and passions before realizing that in order to find success, it was in her best interest to focus her attention in one area exclusively. So, rather than following her passion, she made the business decision to follow opportunity and channeled her attention towards fitness. 

Chalene then shares with listeners that while her fitness empire brought her incredible success, it began negatively impacting both her health and marriage because of a lack of a work-life balance. Therefore, in order to salvage these things, Chalene and her husband ended up selling their business and began devising a number of boundaries and guidelines for themselves and their work. While Chalene explains it was difficult to learn to stick to these boundaries and how to find self-value outside of work, these are what ultimately helped her and her husband to establish a healthy work-life balance.

Chalene explains that while she is largely known for fitness, her skill set lies first and foremost in business and marketing. She shares with listeners advice on leadership, finding and maintaining strong energy throughout the workday, company culture, and the importance of helping those you’re working with feel important. 

Finally, Chalene brings our discussion to a close by talking about her latest weight-loss program, Phase It Up, an online program that gives participants the structure to figure out how they’re supposed to be eating in their unique life moment and how their eating habits will need to change according to their different life phases. The program is designed to help people understand their diet and how to adjust it when needed. 

In addition to discussing Phase It Up, Chalene also provides a number of insights into metabolism, why diets stop working, motivational triggers, and mindset. To learn more about these fitness and nutritional tips or about Chalene’s business and marketing advice, be sure to listen in to today’s episode! 

What You’ll Learn in Today’s Podcast: 

On today’s episode, you’ll learn more about the life and work of Chalene Johnson who shares with listeners insights into business and marketing as well advice regarding fitness and nutrition. 

Helpful Links:

To learn more about Chalene, her work, Phase It Up, or to listen to her podcast, check out her website at: https://www.chalenejohnson.com/

Follow Chalene on social media @ChaleneJohnson

Today I’m joined by Jamie Leigh Kreshock who serves as a partner at Cooley law firm, co-chair of the firm's worldwide M&A group, and is a co-creator of The Shift, a mindfulness app dedicated to meditation, alignment, and connection. Together, Jamie and I discuss her career path to becoming a business lawyer, the variety of tasks her job entails, and what life skills she has found to be most valuable to her success.

Jamie begins our podcast today by informing listeners that her current career didn’t arise from some masterplan she always had. Instead, Jamie credits where she is today as being a result of her simply always looking to make the “next best choice” in her life. She explains that by giving herself permission to not worry about letting herself down, she was better able to stay in the moment and open herself to each new project and mentor that came her way. 

As a business lawyer, Jamie works primarily with tech and life science companies that have given her a lot of experience with business management and counseling. In these positions, she fills a number of different roles, such as acting as a coach, investigator, and negotiator. Some of the companies she has worked with in the past include Uber, Tableau, Workday, Dropbox, Levi Strauss & Co., Procore, and more. However, she says that one of the most exciting deals she has ever been a part of was the selling of Lucasfilm to Disney. 

When discussing the type of work she performs on a daily basis, Jamie tells listeners that when working with businesses, she often tries to act as more of a connector than a leader because companies tend to respond better when they feel like they are a part of the work. She credits this practice to her lifelong belief in teamwork, which she learned from her athletic experience as a rower in high school and college. Jamie explains that her core belief in teamwork is what has led to much of her M&A group’s success because when the group is sharing the same goals and mentality, the work gets completed more efficiently and effectively. 

Jamie and I then end today’s episode by talking about what a typical day looks like for her. While she explains that there is no “typical day,” she does always make a point to integrate health and wellness into her daily routine, which she says helps her to become the best version of herself. This then leads us to discussing her app, The Shift, which her and her co-creator designed to help listeners begin practicing small habits to improve their mindfulness in a variety of life categories such as love, contentment, sleep, etc. To learn more about Jamie’s app as well as about the daily practices she finds most beneficial to her own work, be sure to listen in to today’s episode! 

What You’ll Learn in Today’s Podcast:

On today’s episode, you’ll learn more about the life and work of Jamie Leigh Kreshock, a partner at Cooley law firm, co-chair of the firm's worldwide M&A group, and co-creator of The Shift, a mindfulness app dedicated to meditation, alignment, and connection. 

Helpful Links:

Download and learn more about Jamie’s app, The Shift, here: https://www.the-shiftapp.com/

You can read more about Jamie and her law experience here: https://www.cooley.com/people/jamie-leigh

Today’s expert mentoring session is led by chef, mother, and entrepreneur, Maire Byrne, a woman with a passion for good food and good business. After completing her culinary program, Maire had the experience to open and work at new and upcoming restaurants in the San Francisco area where she also later became a founder, owner, and operator of multiple gourmet restaurants and catering locations in California.

Maire admits that she always loved to cook, but she didn’t begin her culinary career until after graduating college and moved to Pasadena, California to work as a caterer. However, she moved to the state of Colorado about a year later where she was influenced to apply to a two-year culinary school program in upstate New York. 

After completing her culinary training, Maire experienced a dream come true when she helped open a new restaurant in San Francisco—something she recommends that everyone in the industry should try to experience for invaluable life and career lessons.     

Although Maire enjoyed having the opportunity to open a few new restaurants within the San Francisco area, she also couldn’t pass up the chance to transition to a different role as a private chef for a family within the area. This is where she feels that she found her own personal style as a chef and had the room and resources to explore new foods and ideas in the kitchen. 

Now, Marie owns and operates a cafe, a restaurant, a gourmet food-ordering service, and a full-service catering location, too. From dressing rooms, to cubicles, to the most beautiful homes in LA, Maire and her team can cook in—and for—them all. All of Maire’s locations uniquely prepare and deliver food to the customers, and each location will feature different seasonal dishes and specialties throughout the year as well.      

Things You Will Learn

You will learn about Maire Byrne’s culinary journey and transformation as well as how she juggles her roles of business woman, mother, and culinary expert. 

External Links

Check out Thyme Cafe and Market’s website: https://thymecafeandmarket.com/

Or Local Kitchen and Wine Bar: http://localkitchenandwinebar.com/

Today’s expert mentoring session is led by Tyler Nimmons, a CEO and creative director of a full-service and creative production agency, Front Runner Films. This mentoring session will focus on the simple steps anyone can take to create a fantastic video with a professional look that will tell your story and share your brand. Together, Heather and Tyler will discuss and share tips for curious listeners about how to blow up your brand. 

As the CEO of Front Runner Films, Tyler is a jack-of-all-trades. He is passionate about tackling any and all jobs from all angles of the camera, and approaches each project with what he calls an artistic marriage between corporate and creativity. Tyler and his crew at Front Runner Films are masters of emotions while they work with clients to unlock their ultimate creative potential when creating unique and individual corporate and commercial films.    

Even during the pandemic, Tyler and his team were able to deliver beautiful pieces to clients to share their stories, build their brand, and even share a little kindness to his clients on set, too. Front Runner Films’ crew takes great care to promote a comfortable, fun, and inspiring experience to all of their clients, and their care also extends to and is evident in the editing and post-production processes to perfectly reflect their clients’ brands as well. 

Tyler also offers the listeners a few tips for curious and budding filmmakers or those who want to try their creative hand in the business of filmmaking. Whether you want to pursue filmmaking as a hobby or with an intent to launch a career, Tyler offers some of his experience and personal passions and shares some words of advice for all listeners of the podcast.     

Things You Will Learn

You will learn about Front Runner Films, its crew and culture, and how Tyler’s own personal creative processes fit into Front Runner Film’s overall mission and approach to creative design. 

External Links

Everything Front Runner Films is launching a new site: https://frontrunnerfilmsllc.com/

Or contact a team member: [email protected] 

Social Media

Check out @frontrunnerfilmsllc on Instagram

Welcome back to the Mentors and Moguls podcast with your host, Heather Stone.  In a male-dominated automotive industry, some women are breaking the trend. Today, we’re talking about innovation, and our guests today are leading the way. Joining us is Paulette Avolio, who works in the autonomous vehicle division with Ford, and Stephanie Price, an application engineer with Promess Inc. 

Although women make up almost half of the US labor force, they represent less than a quarter of the automotive workforce. Women held 23.6% of jobs in the industry in 2019, and in the same year, women of color made up an even smaller fraction of that. Women also only represented 17.9% of auto dealers and 9.9% of automotive repair positions in the US. 

Paulette is innovating in ways that seem incredibly futuristic. By the time she’s retired, she says we will see autonomous vehicles. She’s working with a team that is focused on safety when it comes to innovated vehicles. She’s tackling how autonomous vehicles behave on steel bridges to ensure the safest, best product gets to the customer. 

There is certainly room for women in the innovative space, Stephanie and Paulette agree. Stephanie points out how exceptionally good women are at taking in an incredible amount of information, analyzing it efficiently, and producing a result or answer. Both of these women started out breaking things, which is how they came to this experimental world they’re in today. There’s a hunger in the industry to include more perspective and experiences so that they can solve tomorrow’s problems with a wider view. 

There are programs for women who are looking to get into the industry, and both Stephanie and Paulette are optimistic that more and more women will become innovators alongside them. 

What you’ll learn

In today’s episode, two women leading the way in the automotive industry sit down o talk about innovation, women in a male-dominated industry, and how important it is to include diverse perspectives in the workplace.

LINKS

https://fordlabs.com/ 

https://corporate.ford.com/company/autonomous-vehicles.html

https://corporate.ford.com/careers/diversity.html