Mark Cowley joins me in the Organized Chaos Café discussing his venture into project leadership coaching specifically with large capital projects! He'll go through a bit of the challenges of handling mega capital projects ($1B+ budgets), how he's handled cultural alignment in his international experience, and we'll also discuss the biggest mistake he has made as a project manager! Come have a seat!

You can find Mark at www.markcowleyservices.com for more information on his consulting and coaching services.   

It's been quite a gap between episodes, so I wanted to give you a quick update on what I've been up to, what I've learned, and what's upcoming. Looking forward to doing more episodes! 

"What could go wrong?" Famous last words. In this episode, we're taking an different experimental approach with our first panel! Our amazing guests in the Café discuss how risk shows up and how you can manage it in both a professional and personal stage.

Our panelists include:

We'll dive into project team risk identification mindset, wedding planning, and personal growth. Come have a listen and see what you take away from it!

Day-dreaming, a wandering mind, just letting your mind draw a blank... Do you implement a time to do nothing? Here's a quick book discussion on the book Auto-Pilot: The Art and Science of Doing Nothing by Andrew Smart where I go through my 3 key takeaways. 

This month, as part of Asian Heritage Month,  Reiko Rogers and I share a bit about our career journey and the intersection of culture. Learn a bit more about the hiring statistics she's noticed in her role as Sr. Manager in the AWS Global Talent Intelligence group as she goes through some great tips for the interview process.

As a PM Interview Coach, she's started to help boost the learnable skills that PMs should know in the interview process. Find more about her and her tips and tricks on Instagram & TikTok!

It's the pandemic, what should you do? Is your first idea to start a restaurant? Well for Vien Ly, she took the plunge into the restaurant business and has exceeded all expectations! In not only being the first purple rice yogurt drink restaurant in Calgary, she's also dived into her food innovation invention of a mochi croissant waffle. Come join our conversation in the café as she goes through her journey from an office administrator to restauranteur! Find the Chewgurt Yummy website here! https://chewgurtyummyyyc.ca/

What's the feeling you get when you think of public speaking? Nervousness? Butterflies in your stomach? Are you feeling confident? The thought of being the center of attention in front of strangers was a crazy thought until until I engaged my public speaking coach, Maria Malik (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sincerelymaria/).  Join our conversation as we talk about her journey becoming a public speaking coach, the trials and tribulations, the transformations she sees in her students, and her amazing success experience with one of her LinkedIn posts going viral with over 38,000 reactions!

You can also find her website at www.mariamalik.us

Navigating the project of parenthood can be difficult, daunting, and different for everyone! Join the conversation in the Café today where I'm speaking with the Aaron Li, co-founder of Colo Families (www.colofamilies.com), about his social enterprise focused on helping parents with pre and post-natal care to help those looking for more focused, customized care for the modern busy parent! We discuss a bit about what goes into starting a social enterprise, looking at childbirth and post-natal care as a project, and the general innovation of nursing in the industry. Enjoy!    

Come join us in the dojo/café as we dive into a Cobra Kai-themed look at leadership! What does Cobra Kai offer it's students? How does Miyagi-Do compare? Is there room for Eagle Fang? Who will win? (Season 4 Spoiler Warning!)

April Moreno (www.aprilmorenophd.com) joins us and brings her personal Karate Kid link and her amazing public health leadership experience into the café. As the founder of the Public Health Podcast and Media Network (https://www.publichealthpodcasters.com/), she'll give some insight into the different dojos and the Leadership Challenge. Join our conversation and see which dojo you belong to!

Everyone has come across situations where they should speak up but didn't or go into debates that turned into uncomfortable arguments. Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler provides a unique and practical look into how to enhance our ability to communicate and carry out these crucial conversations.  Here's my quick review of the book!