No Straight Path

The story of today’s guest epitomizes what this podcast is all about. McKenzie Thomas is the Director of Operations, Ads & Business Products at Meta, where her team is responsible for creating products and solutions that help millions of businesses reach their customers through Facebook, Instagram, and other Meta platforms. Her path to get to this point was anything but straight and, in this episode, McKenzie shares with us what her journey has looked like to date. Tuning in you’ll hear about her childhood, her early communication skills, and her career aspirations and how they led her to where she is today. McKenzie talks about her experience at Howard University and how attending an HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) gave her confidence and helped her succeed at a tough internship at Bloomingdales. She also discusses how a decision to defer Harvard Law School for a year to take a promotion went beyond the wishes and understanding of those close to her but ultimately led to much greater success later on in her life. To hear all about the inspiring McKenzie Thomas and how playing her own game by her own rules helped her achieve so much, tune in today!

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

McKenzie Thomas 

Marcus Alexander 

Howard University

Cooley

Ashley Menzies Babatunde

Ashley Menzies Babatunde on Instagram

Rather than defining yourself by your profession, define yourself by the positive impact that you can have on other people’s lives. Rather than defining success by the amount of money in your bank account, define success by how happy you are. DeRon Brown knows the feelings of burnout and denial all too well, but he has used every challenge that he has faced as a steppingstone to a brighter future. Today, DeRon supports the strategic development and ongoing management of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation’s investment portfolio and, although he took a paycut from his previous job, he has never felt more fulfilled! Tune in to hear about DeRon’s Southern-style upbringing, what drew him to the world of business, and what he loves about his work! 

Key Points From This Episode:

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

DeRon Brown on LinkedIn

Conrad N. Hilton Foundation

Mississippi Center for Justice

Yale Happiness Course [The Science of Wellbeing]

Ashley Menzies Babatunde

Ashley Menzies Babatunde on Instagram

Just for a moment, forget the hustle mentality. Forget waking up at 5 AM to ‘get ahead’ and obsessing over your five-year plan. The pandemic has forced a cultural shift, causing many of us to reframe our perspective of what work is for, what work/life balance really means, and how we want to spend our time on the planet. Today, we speak to Jenna Kutcher, an entrepreneur who grew her business from local wedding photographer to million-dollar personal brand. As if running an award-winning photography business wasn't enough, Jenna branched out into social media, education, and podcasting and she recently published her first book, How Are You, Really?, a guide to soaking up the richness of your experience rather than relentlessly pursuing the tired cliche of “having it all.” She has enabled thousands of entrepreneurs to redefine success and chase bold dreams through her decade-long work as a leading online personality and educator and, in today’s episode, she wants to help you do the same! Listen in as Jenna shares what success feels like and how she aims to guide others to wake up to life, all while staying in comfy pants. Today’s conversation with Jenna is like a business owner’s manual to owning life, rather than the other way around, so make sure not to miss it!

Key Points From This Episode: 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Jenna Kutcher

Jenna Kutcher on Twitter

Jenna Kutcher on Instagram

Goal Digger Podcast

How Are You, Really?

Ashley Menzies Babatunde

Ashley Menzies Babatunde on Instagram

Welcome to today’s episode with another inspiring guest. Cece Xie is a writer, lawyer, and content creator who has been featured in Business Insider, Bloomberg Law, and the ADA Journal. As an immigrant, Cece grew up thinking she was only good at one thing, and that was studying. This led her to Yale, followed by Harvard Law, before she worked as a lawyer in New York City. She began creating content in 2020 to help demystify the legal industry for ordinary people and to share wisdom from her years of balancing wellness with a high-pressure career. Her aim was always to help and inspire outsiders to carve out their unique path in the world, and this has led her to gain 450 000 followers across her social media platforms. Cece brings all of this together on her blogs, which tell the story of this journey, and more! Join us to hear from her today.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Cece Xie

Cece Xie on Instagram 

Cece Xie on LinkedIn

Cece Xie on Twitter

Cece Xie on YouTube

Ashley Menzies Babatunde

Ashley Menzies Babatunde on Instagram

As we bring you part two of our Father’s Day series, today our host Ashley Menzies Babatunde continues her interview with her dad Sydney and his three brothers Patrick, Marvin, and Eric, by delving deeper into their individual fatherhood stories. In this episode, we learn more about how they balanced fatherhood with their careers. Patrick talks about the good and bad decisions that he made, Marvin shares what he wishes he had done differently, and Sydney chats about the gratitude he had for Ashley’s mom Belinda. We hear about the support these fathers received from the mothers of their children and how it enabled them to focus on their careers. They reflect on their favorite parts of being a dad, the benefits of learning from those who came before you, the importance of surrounding yourself with a village, and the value of generally just being there for your kids. For all this valuable advice and some more charming family anecdotes from the Menzies, tune in today!

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Ashley Menzies Babatunde

Ashley Menzies Babatunde on Instagram

In honor of Father’s Day, our host Ashley Menzies Babatunde brings you the first part of a two-part series on career and fatherhood where she interviews her dad and her uncles. Tuning in, you’ll meet the four brothers: Patrick, Sidney (Ashley's dad), Marvin, and Eric. Ashley gives us a brief introduction to each of the brothers, their careers, and the roles that they play in the family. You’ll hear about their childhood in the LA mid-city area where they were raised by Guyanese emigrants in the same home that Ashley grew up in. Although each of the brothers took a different path in life, they have a very strong familial bond that they have passed on to their children. In this episode, they reflect on their childhoods, what they learned from their parents, and how they have applied this knowledge in their own lives. You’ll hear how their parents instilled in them the values of responsibility, generosity, social responsibility, brotherly love, and accountability. You’ll also hear the stories of how their father always made everyone feel important, how Marvin changed his career course because of something his dad said, and how the brothers have handled adversity in the wake of losing jobs and loved ones (including Ashley’s mom, Belinda). This mix of Black, boomer, and Gen X dad perspectives is something that we can all learn a lot from, so tune in today for some wisdom and sound advice! 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Ashley Menzies Babatunde

Ashley Menzies Babatunde on Instagram

We all experience periods in our lives that are imbalanced. And when we try to do everything at once, it often leads to burnout. In this episode, we hear more about our host Ashley Menzies Babatunde’s personal journey. With her wedding two months away, her cases blowing up, and her passion to continue producing this amazing podcast, Ashley is entering a period of imbalance. Tuning in you will hear how, even though she is grateful for everything that is going on in her life, she is overwhelmed. She also talks about how when you are doing something you love and you are generally a high achiever, you are at an even higher risk for burnout, before breaking down her top five tips for getting through periods of imbalance without sacrificing your well-being. To hear how you can get organized, control the things you can control, get creative, outsource, and hold on to things that really matter in order to make it through what could otherwise be a very stressful time, tune in today! 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

The Goal Digger Podcast

HubSpot Creators Program

Ashley Menzies Babatunde

Ashley Menzies Babatunde on Instagram

Hubspot

And we’re back for part two with Dr. Yvorn “Doc” Aswad: pediatrician, psychiatrist, activist, and aspiring author. This episode is filled with pearls of wisdom and inspiring new views on success, joy, and humor. In a capitalist society where success is intrinsically intertwined with individualism, Doc provides an alternative, championing the “tribe” and defining success as communal. In our conversation, Doc shares his thoughts on raising future generations to be communally minded amidst communal suffering and existential threats, and he explains why the most radical thing one could ever do is raise a healthy black family. Despite his hardships, Doc finds relief in humor, identifying it as his most vocal defense mechanism. Tune in to find out more about the four mature defense mechanisms as classified in psychiatry, the eternal source of joy, and how the only “have to” in this world is to live an abundant life. Sit back and prepare to be inspired!

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Dr. Yvorn “Doc” Aswad

Dr. Yvorn Aswad on LinkedIn

Gold Digger Podcast

Hubspot

Ashley Menzies Babatunde

Ashley Menzies Babatunde on Instagram

Today’s guest credits growing up as part of a large family in South Central Los Angeles with not only providing him with a sense of deep spirituality, pride, and belonging, but also for his passion for serving the medically underserved. Dr. Yvorn Aswad, also affectionately known as ‘Doc’, is a pediatrician, psychiatrist, activist, and aspiring science fiction author whose work centers on youth violence prevention, caring for those who are transitioning from the criminal legal system, and restructuring emergency mental health access to feel more therapeutic. Doc received his Bachelors from Stanford University, his M.D. from the Charles Drew University UCLA Medical Education Program, and he is currently a resident at Brown University in the Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry combined program. In part one of this authentic and candid conversation, you’ll learn how Doc’s upbringing and education informed who he is as a healthcare professional and an activist, what led him to cofound the Leland Scholars Program at Stanford to improve the STEM pipeline for underrepresented minorities, and how loss has shaped many of his decisions along the way, as well as how he is using medicine as a tool for social justice today. Stay tuned for part two!

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: 

Yvorn "Doc" Aswad

Yvorn “Doc” Aswad on LinkedIn

Work@Life Podcast

HubSpot

Ashley Menzies Babatunde

Ashley Menzies Babatunde on Instagram

Esther Agbaje is not your stereotypical politician, fortunately! Her heart for people is so big, and through the work that she is doing, she is really contributing to making the world a better place. From a young age, Esther was drawn to the political sphere (she started writing letters to the White House at the age of 7!), and today she serves as the State Representative in the Minnesota Legislature where she focuses on advancing people-centered policies. Esther is a passionate advocate for tenants rights, police accountability, and the provision of safe places for young people. She was once told by a professor that she didn’t have a voice, but that couldn’t be further from the truth; Esther has given me hope for the future of American politics, and I hope you feel the same after listening to her story today! 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Esther Agbaje

Esther Agbaje on Instagram

Esther Agbaje on Twitter

Esther Agbaje on Linktree

Ashley Menzies Babatunde

Ashley Menzies Babatunde on Instagram