Skip the Repeat

While working as a creative director in San Francisco with a beautiful family, Carol Gardner led the dream life. But after going through a traumatic divorce, she was left broken and in heavy debt. At the advice of her attorney who suggested she get a therapist or a dog, she adopted an English bulldog, who became the key to her reinvention. A few years later at the age of 52, she launched Zelda Wisdom, a multimillion dollar company today and one that she remains very much involved in.

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Lucia Liu grew up in many different places and, as she puts it, was raised “free-range.” Attending the University of Pennsylvania without an expectation to become any particular thing, she explored many different areas as a student.

She’s taken this mindset of being a learner to change directions many times in her career, from working at American Express as a marketing analyst, to becoming a chocolatier, to becoming host of the Rock the Boat podcast, a show about Asian American leaders. 

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As a budding young cellist, Jeremy Turner dreamed of playing in the greatest orchestras in the world. As a senior at The Juilliard School, he accomplished just that: becoming the youngest member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. For the first few years, he was living the dream, collaborating with the best in the business. But slowly, he began to wonder if opera was all there was for him, exploring rock music and tinkering with creating music of his own. At the age of 36, he left the Opera to try his hand at something he had no training in - composition. Today, he is one of the most in-demand composers in the film industry, most recently creating the score for “Chef’s Table” on Netflix.

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This is Part Two of my conversation with Heather Marold Thomason. Heather and I talk about what she went through the first time she slaughtered an animal (2:30), the mind-blowing statistic of how many families are fed by one animal (19:10), and the moment she knew she had to open her own shop (27:10). We also discuss how important self belief and patience have been to her journey (38:20) and how this pandemic is not the most difficult obstacle she has faced (46). 

Heather Marold Thomason leaps first and thinks later. Heather and Kai talk about her previous life as a dancer and graphic designer (3:40), burning out in college (10:40), and how becoming friends with farmers came to change her trajectory (29:20). They also discuss apprenticing on a farm (43) and how her previous life as a dancer and artist shapes her life now (53:30). 

Danielle Eva Schwob loves listening to whole albums. Danielle and Kai talk about being the most adventurously dressed kid in school (3:30), what kept her going through tough times during her first years in NYC (20), and not dwelling on competition (33:30). They also discuss how important being a part of an artistic community is (38) and her new album (41:20). 

JJ Kirkpatrick loves to work out on traveling rings. In this episode recorded two weeks ago, JJ and Kai talk about his fantastic new single, Ultraviolet (6), the hidden virtuosity of pop music (12:40), and how he incorporates personal health into his life as an artist (23:25). They also discuss the black lives matter protests happening around the world (32:25) and being a frugal guy (59:40). 

Gabríel Ólafs loves living in Reykjavík, Iceland. Gabríel and Kai talk about his upbringing (9), loving Pixar and his dream of becoming a film composer (13:50), and the wild story of how he got signed to a record label (22). They also discuss what he thinks of his success at a young age (33:30) and his album, "Absent Minded" (34:30).

Jobs in the coffee industry are meant to be temporary. So the saying goes. But that doesn’t have to be true. In this episode, we talk with Andrea Allen, 2020 U.S. Barista Champion and co-owner of Onyx Coffee Lab about how she got into the specialty coffee industry, cultivating a coffee culture through Onyx Coffee Lab, and why we should all take a chance on a specialty coffee roastery.

Baristas are integral to our specialty coffee experience. But who are baristas? Why did they choose to become baristas? And what do they love about specialty coffee? In this episode, we talk with Chaereen Pak and Seth Wiley, two fabulous baristas about their story.