"In the colonial white supremacist system, there is no community. There's only power, but there's no community. But that doesn't mean that we have to abide by that model. We can create a new model. So in a way, it's exciting. But it's also terrifying. Because what does that look like without a blueprint"

Meet Doctora Nicole Cabrera Salazar (She/They/Ella), astrophysicist turned social impact entrepreneur, and founder & CEO of Movement Consulting, a company dedicated to transforming academic environments into radically nourishing spaces for marginalized people by providing virtual courses, workshops, and expert advice.

In this special interview episode of Power Pivot, join Leela and Dra. Nicole in a conversation about community, loneliness, Zapatistas, toxic academic environments, and reclaiming power from colonialist structures and using it for the good of our communities.

Links!!

Dra. Nicole on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moveboldly/

Movement Consulting's website: https://www.wearemvmt.com/

The Daily Radical podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2211444/about

Transcript and Show Notes: https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/interview-dra-nicole-salazar

recorded February 26, 2024

it's six am and I'm trying to beat the clock. Where do climate change and immediacy and action and just wanting time for oneself collide?

A short poem.

I'm ending the hiatus, but I'm coming back a little less polished.

substack: http://leelasinha.substack.com

"Once you use intensive and expansiveness to develop a job description, to do some hiring, to do some delegation, you can't unsee it. Once you've seen it, it's everywhere. And it's not the only metric you use. But it is a metric that you use consistently. So that you can imagine who will be most successful at what."

We're going to take a little bit of a break, but before we do: let's talk about hiring, and delegation, and intensives & expansives. Understanding the intensiveness or expansiveness of the people in your team can help you bring people in and assign tasks in a way that sets everyone up for success. And remember, even though you mostly vibe with intensives (if you're an intensive), you still need expansives. And vice versa. We need each other. So let's not do this alone.

As mentioned, we will be taking a bit of a break and slowing down the release schedule during March. We have a great interview coming up, which will drop on Wednesday, March 20th. Until then, remember that there are lots of episodes and interviews from seasons 1 & 2, so you can always wander through the catalog and find something to listen to in the meantime.

Thank you all for listening, and for your continued support! Talk soon.

Transcript and notes:

https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/recruiting-and-delegation

Recorded 26 February 2024.

Paul Baron: "what they really liked about the wall printer, which is what I'm most proud of, is that every customer we have, becomes a new company. Everybody that buys a wall printing machine establishes a company around this machine, or they've added a revenue stream to an existing company."

Let us introduce you to Paul Baron, a self-described "serial entrepreneur," who shares insights from his fifty-something year career in sales, and running businesses like restaurants, sporting goods, and beyond. Paul and Leela talk about revenue-sharing models for employees, the risks and rewards of going into business for yourself, pricing your labor and your services, and Paul's latest business venture: The Wall Printer.

Links!

Connect with Paul Baron on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pbbaron/

Check out The Wall Printer machine in action: https://thewallprinter.com/en/

The Ward's Bridge Inn: https://wardsbridgeinn.com/

Transcript and notes:

https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/interview-paul-baron

Recorded 26 February 2024.

"This is the hard part about being intensive: that people have told us all our lives that we're dangerous. And mostly, I will tell you that we are not. That we just need to find the right structures. But the size of our emotional experience means that sometimes we can push ourselves over the edge."

Grief is enormous. And there is a lot to grieve. And, as intensives, our ways of expressing grief are often unwelcome (at best) in an expansive culture. How do we honor the intensity of our grief, and process it. And also- how do we remember that we can do that, and so much else, in a community? How do we let others take up our burdens so that we can grieve and rest? And how do we take up those burdens for others? As usual, we will look for answers in community, in relationship, and in the earth. And let's also talk about how to keep our grief from harming us, physically. Because there is a shade of truth in phrases like 'my stomach is tied up into knots." And that truth can be very painful indeed.

Relevant Links:

About the Tank Man from Tiananmen Square: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_Man

Leela's Substack! And the new poem: https://leelasinha.substack.com/p/fire-to-earth?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2

The Conspirituality Podcast discusses Project 2025: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/187-project-2025-an-authoritarian-conspiracy/id1515827446?i=1000640530495

Transcript and notes:

https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/honoring-the-intensity-of-intensive-grief

Recorded 26 February 2024.

"It's a spark. It's a glimmer. It's the thing that happens that keeps us on the phone for three hours.... It's the shimmer under the skin. It's the joy. It's the relief."

In the last episode we talked about some of the beautiful variations within intensives and within expansives. Now let's talk about the absolute joy that can be found when like meets like. When you find that you don't have to explain yourself to the other person, when there is ease- when we simply click with someone.

Transcript and notes:

https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/the-beauty-of-the-click

Recorded 19 February 2024.

"How do you get from generalizations to the specificity that allows you to interact with a particular human being that's across from you?"

Our theme of "Love the One You're With" continues... but let's not make any big assumptions. Intensiveness can be a fairly influential characteristic, but we should always remember that there are wide variations in personalities, even among intensives or expansives. Let's look at some of those variations so that we can get to know who we are talking to a little bit better.

Transcript and notes:

https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/same-but-different

Recorded 19 February 2024.

"How do you know who it is that's across from you? What they need, what they want. How you can take care of them, while also under stress and also trying to get a lot of work done. That's where SIEF comes in."

Continuing our theme of "Love the One You're With." Life is unpredictable, and people are certainly hard to predict. And the best way for us to show we care for Person A will not be the best way to make Person B feel cared for (especially if person B is an intensive and Person A is an expansive.) So if we try to meet everyone's needs in a general, one-size-fits-all way, then no one's needs will get met. And unmet needs are the root of resentment. But good news- SIEF is a tool we can use to understand the needs of the people around us a little better, which will help us get closer to the goal of meeting everyone's needs, all the time.

Transcript and notes:

https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/prediction-reduces-fire-drills

Recorded 12 February 2024.

"often the breakdown between us is that we don't communicate with the same kinds of expressions of care. And when we don't use the same expressions of care, that means that it's harder to recognize when someone is caring for you, or caring about you."

This is the second episode on our theme of "Love the One You're With." Today, we'll talk more about the differences between intensives and expansives, and how knowing and recognizing these differences can help us better communicate the care we feel for each other. Because recognizing that we have differences helps us realize that one of those differences is in how we know when someone cares for us. So in this case, what is good for me may not, in fact, be good for thee.

Check out Sarah Marie Lacy's portrait paintings at https://smlacyart.com/

Transcript and notes: https://dev.intensivesinstitute.com/captivate-podcast/love-the-ones-you-know

Recorded 5 February 2024.