The Business of You with Rachel Gogos

Coco Brown wants to see the world evolve. And she’s not willing to wait: She works tirelessly to propel women into well-deserved leadership roles and help them thrive there. 

Coco is the Founder and CEO of Athena Alliance, a SaaS platform for women seeking to gain, expand and master leadership roles. Athena Alliance provides live and on-demand learning, networking, coaching, and access to career opportunities for the world’s top women leaders. With Athena's support, thousands of women have advanced their executive careers and more than 300 women have landed board seats. 

Prior to founding Athena Alliance, Coco served as COO, President and Board Director at Taos, where she led the company out of near-bankruptcy and ushered them towards their successful acquisition by IBM. 

Coco is also a renowned Keynote Speaker and Writer. She has spoken at Microsoft’s elite global CEO Summit and has been published in Fortune, Forbes, NACD, WSJ, and Bloomberg. She has also received a variety of leadership awards, from Business Woman of the Year in Silicon Valley and San Francisco to Silicon Valley’s top 100 Women of Influence. 

Keep the pulse on shifts in business and culture…

When asked about the rise of women in executive roles, Coco Brown has plenty of valuable insight. Before she realized there was an issue, she was already at the top - and realized that there weren’t a lot of other women at the top with her. 

After doing some digging and examining cultural attitudes, she noticed powerful trends towards a more conscious model of commerce, a steady increase in consumer power and a collective desire to create a better world through better business. A lot of these shifts are being explored by women, nonbinary individuals and people of color who are rising into positions previously filled by men - or conceptualizing new executive positions that have never existed before.

How will you create the future?

By empowering women and historically-excluded individuals to ascend into leadership roles, Athena Alliance works to build a more diverse and prosperous world for all people. Their goal is to be a resource for leaders who want to grow in their positions and be the best in their respective industrues, and they have members hailing from industry giants including Microsoft, Bank of America, and Disney; as well as rising leaders like Databricks, Stripe and TalkDesk.

During her research Coco Brown looked to the history of the stock market. She realized that men have had hundreds of years to become comfortable with investing, risk-taking, entrepreneurship and leadership, while women are just now learning some of these skills. Just like men did during the conception of the stock exchange, Coco recognized a need for information-sharing in order to give women the boost they need. Unlike a traditional MBA which can at times become irrelevant even by graduation day, Coco sought to construct a place for powerful and knowledgeable women can share information in order to success in business. Now, Athena Alliance has an on-demand learning platform to help executives flourish, develop and grow as leaders. In minutes, members of Athena Alliance can access half a dozen women sharing their own experiences and giving valuable professional advice. 

Quotes

“There’s been a fundamental flipping of power from businesses to consumers. It almost doesn’t matter how poor you are, you have a device in your hand and a voice. Companies are no longer able to tell people what a brand feels like, how you should feel and who you become when you have the brand…consumers tell brands that!”

“Consumers were being mistreated by brands and are taking control. That fundamental shift is what has created the adoption of conscious capitalism in the United States.”

“If the power is changing, and the powers that be are paying attention, then what is required at the top of leadership is a lot more integrated than it ever was before. It’s a shift away from valuing risk-taking at all expense, competition and the fight to win….traits we consider very masculine. It’s a shift towards bringing in vulnerability, cooperation, co-opetition, caring for society and for one another, and these are very feminine qualities.”

“If you’re going to be a senior leader, you have to have a dynamic way of keeping your finger on the pulse of wisdom. That is an increasingly difficult challenge.”

“Don’t just focus on the endgame. Focus on being a great leader throughout. We’re all so busy - We need to get access to learning in a dynamic and instantaneous way.”

“I’m compelled to try to help whenever I can. If I walk away from someone with their hand out on the street, I’m very aware of what my justification is. That is not a Mother Thesa virtue… I just get disappointed when I don’t  see  other people helping. It’s disappointing when we get so caught up in our own needs that we don’t see the needs of others. That’s central to my brand.”

“I want to see the world evolve. I want to see leadership at the top of business represent the demographics of the society that it serves.”

“I want the structure of business to fundamentally change. It was designed around the elites and the factory model. The way you progress and get access to opportunities are based around the elite.”

Links mentioned in this episode:

Visit the Athena Alliance Website: www.athenaalliance.com 

Connect with Coco Brown on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cocobrown/ 

Follow The Athena Alliance on LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/company/the-athena-alliance 

Follow The Athena Alliance on Twitter: https://twitter.com/athenaalliance 

Growing from a tiny seed of an idea to a flourishing company, the couple behind a subversive new product shares the pivotal moments that fueled their major success in the sustainable confectionery industry. 

Taylor and Brennan Clarke are the Co-Creators of Amborella Organics, a revolutionary line of organic seed-bearing lollipops with herbs and flowers throughout. After years of grit and hard work, Amborella products are now featured in Urban Outfitters, Nordstrom and Uncommon Goods as well as hundreds of trend-setting cafés, florists and curated shops around the world. Amborella Organics has been featured in Goop, Daily Mail, Food Network Magazine, ABC News, Nylon and Epicurious. 

Amborella Organics leads the confectionery market in conversations about sustainability, ethical means of production and conscious consumer goods. Their lollipops feature flavors like strawberry and basil, champagne and roses, and lavender and lemongrass, with thoughtful product packaging. After enjoying the luxurious flavors of an Amborella lollipop, you simply plant the stick horizontally in the ground and grow the seeds of a plant you just consumed. It’s beautiful and it keeps giving back to you and the earth!  There were no other lollipops like them anywhere, and the Clarkes overcame every adversity to make them a reality. 

You can accept challenges and rise to the occasion

Taylor and Brennan Clarke are no strangers to the challenges of growing a business. Beyond the usual red tape of starting a new company, they wanted to stick to their own rigorous standards of ingredient sourcing, flavor formulation, pouring and packaging. This would prove to be an incredible obstacle, but they made it happen through sheer determination and hard work.

After being invited to promote Amborella at a trade show for the first time, they stayed up late the night before the event - making their website on Squarespace in bed. It paid off. Immediately after the event, they received their first wholesale account: It was Alfred, a trendy influencer in the coffee space promoting small brands from Los Angeles to Tokyo! Amborella Organics even went viral in 2017, reaching over ten million views with a video feature on NowThis News. 

They were experiencing explosive growth when they found out that their lollipop manufacturer was closing up shop - with just two weeks of notice. In a moment that could have caused anyone to quit, Taylor and Brennan doubled down! They poured lollipops by hand and stacked boxes as high as the ceiling as their family and friends helped them fulfill thousands of orders. 

Finally, they built a company headquarters with an organic kitchen and efficient in-house production. 

Stick to your mission and your vision

Most lollipops are formulated with lab-created ingredients, poured overseas, then packaged and branded. That’s been done before - and the Clarkes had no interest in being just another candy company. 

On top of all of this, they are frequently made with mass-production machines that are unable to handle the seeds and petals in Amborella’s lollipops without breaking down. 

In the midst of every challenge, there were roadblocks that could have easily made them compromise their vision. But with an unwavering commitment to their long-term goals for Amborella, the Clarkes accepted each challenge as an opportunity to improve the industry as a whole.

Always be planting seeds

Amborella Organics is not just about lollipops. It’s about a future of sustainability and respect for the planet, as evidenced by their tagline: “Eat, Plant, Love.” Just like you can plant seeds from every Amborella lollipop, the Clarkes plant seeds of change for the confectionery industry with every hurdle they knock down. 

It’s a sunny reminder that we can create a better world for all those who follow in our footsteps - by believing in the power of our ideas. 

Quotes

“We didn’t want to create something that already existed. The copy-and-paste model was not interesting to us. Beyond seed-bearing technology, we also wanted a delicious flavor that wasn’t already out there.”

“We have ambitions to do a lot of things - but we will always be botanical, organic and different.”

“We truly have stuck with our vision. It has been ten times as hard, but it has been worth it. Throughout this entire process, people have tried to get us to compromise our vision to make things cheaper or easier, and we have stuck to our guns. We know who we are, and who our customer is. We’re confident in that!”

“If it was something we had to do alone, it would have been too impossible.”

“It’s important to create a dialogue about what can be sustainable!”

Links mentioned in this episode:

Visit the Amborella Organics website at https://amborellaorganics.com/ 

Read Amborella’s growing press features on their company website at  https://amborellaorganics.com/pages/press 

Find Amborella’s wholesale application by clicking here: https://amborellaorganics.com/pages/wholesaleapplication  

Follow Amborella Organics on Instagram for fun giveaways and new flavor releases at https://www.instagram.com/amborellaorganics/ 

Connect with the team at Amborella Organics on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/amborella-organics/ 

For our 50th episode of The Business of You with Rachel Gogos, we are hosting a very special and inspiring guest: Rachel Gogos herself.

Rachel delivers powerful insight about the importance of finding your life’s purpose, trusting the journey and amplifying your unique voice through your personal brand. She also shares some juicy details about the inception of this podcast and why it is a passion project for Rachel to connect with other entrepreneurs who are often behind the scenes. Bursting with relatable career advice and words of genuine encouragement, this is the coffee conversation you have always wanted to have with an entrepreneurial friend and mentor.

Rachel Gogos is the host of The Business of You. She is the Founder and CEO of the brandiD digital marketing agency, established in 2007 and still flourishing today with a gifted team of web developers, designers, copywriters and project managers. She also created MyPath101, an online resource for high school and college students to examine their traits and research potential careers. 

Rachel is a true Internet pioneer who was creating businesses on the web before Google was established as a commercial entity in 1998, and long before the phrase ‘personal branding’ became an industry buzzword. She started her career at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, where she helped create the look and feel for the organization's first website. She has held positions at The Wall Street Journal and DowJones.com. 

Rachel’s entrepreneurial spirit bloomed at a young age. The child of Greek immigrants and Buffalo-based entrepreneurs, Rachel literally grew up in the restaurant business. She developed a strategy and brand identity to turn a dilapidated eatery into a hip family restaurant, which remains a popular destination to this day. Rachel is one of just 15 people worldwide who have earned a Master’s level certification in personal branding from Reach, the oldest company devoted to personal branding. She was also a contributing author to the #1-selling personal branding book on Amazon.com, Personal Branding For Dummies (Wiley.)

Today, in her current role running The brandiD, Rachel channels over 15 years of marketing and communications experience into each and every website for brandiDs clients. Her approach to business is based in service, hospitality, kindness and empowerment.

Get clear, and your path will be illuminated.

Looking at her illustrious career in marketing and branding, Founder and CEO Rachel Gogos may seem like someone who always has a complex plan for the future. But the truth might surprise you: Rather than getting caught up in the details, Rachel chooses to live her purpose through faith and trust in the journey. By becoming clear on what she wants, new and exciting opportunities present themselves at every turn - and she’s ready to receive them. 

Prior to her career in personal branding, Rachel Gogos knew that she wanted to work in the United Nations. Despite obstacles and a lack of the usual connections to the agency, she opened herself up and explored the possibilities - and sure enough, she found a position at the UN headquarters in New York. 

Gain clarity on your heart’s desires and begin exploring. Don’t get caught up in how and where - focus on your why, and the rest will work itself out.

What is personal branding, and why is it so essential?

Rachel defines personal branding as the amplification of your authentic self through your brand’s marketing and online presence. By pursuing your desires and knowing yourself, you can infuse your purpose and personality into everything you create - from your website, paid ads and social media all the way to your life’s enduring legacy.

What makes you who you are, and what are you passionate about? Who do you want to serve and why? These impactful questions can help you explore your personal brand voice and lead the way to revelations about your future offerings.

It’s your moment to shine!

It’s time to step into a bigger version of yourself, and you’re ready. Rachel’s words will inspire and encourage you to chase your dreams and launch your business, commit fully to entrepreneurship or create new and exciting contributions to serve your audience.

Your personal brand is your core essence - your soul’s truest expression of itself. Honing in on it reveals the work you were meant to do, and can serve as the soul of your business. Let the magic begin!

Quotes

“I always loved being behind a story. This podcast is shining a light on what people are doing with their brand and on leaders who are not in the limelight, because there is so much depth to people whose natural personalities are more introverted. I want to bring those stories to light and help other people who are starting their businesses!”

“I’m never clear on 3-4 steps ahead, but I’m always clear on my next step. Just by identifying that in my head and my heart, I always find my way there.”

“Establish how accessible you want to be, in your own working style. Instead of having to back out of anything, establish boundaries early on so that your clients don’t feel like you’re taking something away from them. That is just how you do business!”

“I have found that entrepreneurs get nervous about the little things, because those things aren’t so little when you’re in it for the first time. I don’t want confidence to be a roadblock for someone doing their own thing. Confidence comes with time. I surround myself with people who remind me that I have the strength and ability and experience to do the thing that might be pushing me out of my comfort zone.”

“I define personal branding as a combination of your reputation, true personality and marketing. One of the biggest myths about personal branding is that you need to be extroverted and be obnoxious about who you are. It’s totally not - unless that’s your personality! The marketing piece is all about elevating who you are, your reputation and personality, and injecting it into your business.” 

“The core of what we do is helping people tap into who they are, and project and amplify it into their brand.”

“We spend so much of our time working. If we’re doing something that doesn’t feel like work, what an amazing way to live.”

“If there’s something you really want to do in life, you can.”

“I want to be remembered for empowering others, helping them find their purpose and live in a way that feels free and abundant.”

Links mentioned in this episode:

What’s your brand superpower? Take the 2-minute quiz to uncover your unique voice at https://content.leadquizzes.com/lp/jqgbMsr00g 

To learn more about brandiD services, visit http://www.thebrandid.com/services/ 

Launching your business or building your brand? Schedule your free discovery call with brandiD team at https://thebrandid.com/#contact 

To learn more about MyPath101.com and generate your Identity Report, visit http://www.MyPath101.com 

Interested in connecting with Rachel Gogos? Email her directly at [email protected]

Rachel Gogos recommends that you read The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks, which is a powerful and effective business book to help free yourself of limitations.

She also suggests that you add The Go Giver by John David Mann and Bob Burg and The Game of Life and How to Play it by Florence Scovel Shinn to your entrepreneurial reading list. 

Rachel was featured as a contributor in the #1-selling personal branding book on Amazon.com, Personal Branding For Dummies. You can purchase it on Amazon or from your local bookseller.

Rod Hardy is a successful rising star in the world of rap music. He’s also an expert at personal branding - and shares his wisdom with us in Part Two of this powerful conversation. 

Rod is a rapper, a former college football coach, and a successful entrepreneur. When he decided to chase his passion, he fiercely and consistently hustled until he made his dreams a reality. It only took him two years to jumpstart his promising music career, but don’t let that fool you - he attributes his achievements to years of laying the groundwork. 

If you comb through Rod’s Twitter account, you’ll find a tweet from 2013. It’s simple, but clear: “I’m gonna win a Grammy one day.” This was posted seven years before he even began putting out music in 2020, and today he is well on his way to bringing this goal to life. It’s a small but significant reminder of his belief in playing the long game. Rod knows that big rewards take time, effort and consistency. 

What is your brand?

Your brand is not just a product or a service. It’s the contribution you want to make to the world, your purpose, and your values. 

Rod Hardy’s brand is hard work. Coming from an inner-city blue collar family, he set out to learn how to make money by exploring the corporate world then becoming an entrepreneur. The same values that made him profitable in business translate directly to his career in music: Show up, be consistent, work harder and connect deeper. He demonstrates those values every day in the actions he takes to build his empire and most importantly, to build genuine relationships with his audience. 

How will you connect with your audience?

Rod Hardy doesn’t need to check analytics constantly or get swept up in research. He does something much simpler: he talks to his fans.

How can you connect more authentically with the people you serve? When choosing platforms and systems for your own business, you may be attracted to the newest social media or the most curated feed. But in the end, your platform should align with the values that your brand stands for. In service of his goal to form genuine relationships with his fanbase, Rod Hardy uses a texting service. It’s not just occasional notifications when a song drops - Rod asks his fans what lyrics resonate with them, what musicians they listen to and recommend, and what’s new on their playlist. His website is consistently updated in order to announce shows and drops. Every platform he uses is simple and consistent, and his fans always know what to expect from him. 

As entrepreneurs, we would do well to take lessons from his success in the music industry. Enjoy this conversation about branding, values, consistency and the power of music with rapper and entrepreneur Rod Hardy.

Quotes

“The thing about hip-hop that’s so unique is that it’s the voice of a community. When people cringe at what’s being said, I encourage them to dig into the words more and try to understand. This is music coming from a frustrated people. You’re hearing what they live through every day.”

“When good music comes out, even during segregated days, that's what brought people together. We realized we all love that sound.”

“It’s not about the music, it’s about the connection with the people. Hip-hop has done a really great job at bridging that gap.”

“Your brand, to me, is a compass. As long as I stick to that compass, my fans know what they’re gonna get from me when they hear my music or see me in concert, or even see me out.”

“The brand was hard work. The brand was navigating, figuring out…I didn’t come from money, and my family was blue collar. I had to figure out how to make money. That’s part of my brand: It don’t matter how long it takes. Start where you are. Start where YOU are, not where the world says you should be. The situation’s never gonna be perfect. Start today.”

Links mentioned in this episode:

Visit Rod Hardy’s Website: https://rodhardymusic.com/ 

Listen to Rod Hardy’s music on Apple, Spotify, iTunes, Amazon, Tidal, deezer and audiomack: https://foundation-media.ffm.to/-slide 

Text Rod Hardy at (213) 510-1655 to receive notifications whenever he drops new music, and to connect with him about your favorite hip-hop artists.

Follow Rod on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rodhardy_/?hl=en 

Connect with Rod on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rodhardymusic/ 

Follow Rod Hardy on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RodHardy_ 

Rod Hardy is an up-and-coming rapper, a former college football coach, and a successful entrepreneur. He makes it all look easy - but today, he’ll be sharing the real-life hustle, mindset and motivation behind his journey. 

After making his mark in the corporate world and inspiring others to pursue their dreams as a coach, Rod’s life took a turn after his brother fell into a coma for three weeks at age thirty-two. Upon waking up, he told Rod: Don’t let life pass you by before you do what you really want to do. 

Three weeks later, Rod was on his way to becoming a major rising star in the rap genre. It only took him two years of putting out music to gain devoted fans, hit charts and gain press from publications like Hype and Medium. 

Overnight Success is Evidence of Consistency

Rod Hardy knows that there’s no such thing as an overnight success. He knows this for a fact because he is one - and he can attest to the years of consistent action that got him there. 

Rod shares his tips with us - from his driven mindset to his morning routine. Pointing to daily action and years of personal development, he reminds us that success is built on the foundation of consistency!

Authenticity is Always in High Demand

When asked what has driven most of his success, Rod Hardy doesn’t point to a marketing plan. He doesn’t name his agent, his label or his manager. He points back at his fans. 

Rod tells his story and authentically connects with his fans, writing music to help them feel seen and understood. Now that Rod has something to say, he is wasting no time sharing his messages of hope, positivity, self-discovery and endurance with the world.

Quotes

“I knew working for somebody was never going to be my thing. I had an independent mind. I knew my ideas weren’t always gonna be taken into consideration the way I knew they should be. Being a creative, it’s tough working under infrastructure.”

“Things that you want to do, that you say you wanna do, you need to do them today because you don’t know what tomorrow brings.”

“Releasing those singles had a huge impact, but…I think the big impact was my brand and my work, and how we do things. I didn’t expect to just throw music out there and expect people to jump on board. There are thousands of people making music every day…but are these thousands of people making connections with fans? That’s what I wanted to do. Not shying away from my story, not trying to be something I’m not, just being authentic, and really telling my fans my story.”

“I like to get up at four-thirty or five in the morning. I feel like those are real spiritual hours, where you can be by yourself and have creative time, before the world wakes up. That’s when I do a lot of my writing. I write a couple lines, even a verse.”

“I’m a huge hip-hop fan. I know what songs make me feel this type of way, the beat or the words. So I trust in my own instincts when I’m in the studio.”

“Still loading, to me, means evolving. Continuous evolution. Whatever you were prior to this point in your life, that’s not what you need to continue to be. You can do anything you want to do, and it’s never too late.”

Links mentioned in this episode:

Visit Rod Hardy’s Website: https://rodhardymusic.com/ 

Listen to Rod Hardy’s music on Apple, Spotify, iTunes, Amazon, Tidal, deezer and audiomack: https://foundation-media.ffm.to/-slide 

Text Rod Hardy at (213) 510-1655 to receive notifications whenever he drops new music.

Follow Rod on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rodhardy_/?hl=en 

Connect with Rod on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rodhardymusic/ 

Follow Rod Hardy on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RodHardy_ 

Akhila Satish became fascinated by science at an early age. When she looked for a way to use her love of science and information to make an impact, she set her sights on the technology space.

Akhila is the CEO of Meseekna, a science-first simulation technology company that helps organizations measure and optimize potential to improve effective promotion, placement and hiring. Akhila is an expert in the science behind decision-making. As a director, she brings a highly collaborative and solutions-oriented approach to governance and is immensely valuable to boards looking to accelerate growth, scale, and product-market fit.

Akhila is also the executive director of The Science Runway, a non-profit dedicated to inspiring girls to join the life sciences. Under her leadership, The Science Runway has grown from an idea at a roundtable discussion to a successful arm of the Center For Healthcare Innovation (CHI).

Akhila’s unique background spans venture capital, SaaS, and science, and she holds degrees in neuroscience, biotechnology, and business. Her research has been published in scientific journals Nature and Human Genomics and her expertise on metacognition, science, and talent management has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur Magazine, CNBC, Fortune, and Business Insider.

Why is Meseekna’s work so important?

Using brain-science technological simulations, Meseekna evaluates hidden areas of bias in workplace assessments, hiring or training processes. If similar candidates arrive with competing credentials and qualifications, why does one succeed while the other does not? Meseekna’s simulations seek out answers in order to improve the hiring and training process, ensuring that qualified candidates are much more likely to thrive in their new roles!

Meseekna also helps organizations evaluate management teams and place trainees properly according to how- not what- they think. By understanding complex and nuanced brain science, an organization can use Meseekna to place new people in strong roles within the company or make changes to current structures that aren’t working. And if an individual needs help to develop in their role, Meseekna has training modules to support them as they expand fully into their role, finding satisfaction and excitement in their work. 

How can we begin to assess our own teams?

Akhila often discusses VUCAD in her work - which stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity and delayed feedback. Originally developed for the US Army, VUCA (together with the addition of delayed feedback) is a way of understanding a person or organization’s responses to stressors. 

In her own workplace, Akhila notices that she can control some elements of VUCAD, creating a happier and more stable work environment for her team. For example, she can avoid the stress that comes with delayed feedback, telling her team when she will deliver feedback on something so that they know what to expect. She seeks to fully understand each team member’s top VUCAD element in order to place and support them properly, avoiding issues and setting them up for success. 

Akhila Satish is passionate about using brain science to create a better world. She is often the first call for founders struggling to put out fires, from interpersonal team dynamics to negotiating customer contracts.

Quotes

“I started thinking about how I could have the most impact…and the place where science had impact, and where I thought I could contribute greatly was in the technology space.”

“Impact investing is focused on companies that could provide a societal good and a financial return. My firm was looking at companies that were both socially conscious and profitable.”

“I spend a lot of my day translating between science, technology and sales.”

“We love to see incremental and lasting change for organizations that we work with. We want to do simulations…and we form a partnership for lasting change.”

“A lot of our clients are proactive. They’re looking for something different! Companies that seek us out are looking at their data and employee landscape and it’s giving them a piece of the puzzle but they’re missing something. They have candidates coming to them with identical resumes, identical aptitude tests, relatively similar psychometric profiles. One is succeeding and one is not succeeding as well. They’re looking for that X factor of metacognition. These are HR leaders who are very thoughtful. They want both candidates to come in and thrive within the organization.”

“These are HR leaders who are thinking through issues around diversity. They see biases that are creeping into their process. These are typically things that metacognition and a bias reassessment and simulation can help with. These are the leaders who come to us typically!”

“We’re not interested in what they’re thinking, we’re interested in how they’re thinking. It’s context free. The same simulation can apply from the military to a healthcare organization to a bank. We can run the same simulation, but certain measurements may be more important.”

“One of the things I love about being a CEO is the ability to work with people, and see them grow over time.”

Links mentioned in this episode:

Visit Akhila Satish’s website: www.akhilasatish.com 

Visit the website for Meseekna: https://www.meseekna.com/ 

Get Meseekna’s Stress Management Guide: https://www.meseekna.com/how-to-manage-stress 

Get Meseekna’s Decision Readiness Guide: https://www.meseekna.com/decision-ready-guide 

Check out the website for The Science Runway, where Akhila is the Executive Director: https://www.thesciencerunway.org/ 

Gain a deeper understanding of VUCA and get real-life examples from Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2014/01/what-vuca-really-means-for-you 

Connect with Akhila Satish on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akhilasatish/

Patricia Lohan used Feng Shui to manifest the love of her life, create her dream business and free herself to travel the world while empowering others. Now, she wants us to invite us to look at our spaces with fresh eyes so that we can do the same!

Patricia is the Founder of PowerHouse Feng Shui and Author of The Happy Home: A Guide To Creating A Happy, Healthy, Wealthy Life. She helps entrepreneurs make their homes and businesses magnetic to money, luck, and blessings. 

Patricia has helped thousands of people across the globe embrace Feng Shui and create lasting changes in their businesses, homes, and lives. She has seen firsthand the power of living a holistic life aligned with one’s surroundings, in tune with the energies within and without.

A successful entrepreneur, Patricia has 15 years of experience running and growing three successful startups of her own. She has been featured in media internationally including The New York Times, CNN, Fox, Forbes, The New York Post, She Knows, Essence, Mindbodygreen, USA Today and Elephant Journal.

What is Feng Shui?

Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese practice and it is over 5,000 years old. It is a manner of arranging your physical surroundings to channel productive and positive energies into your home, while also ridding your space of negativity or stagnation. 

While often thought to be an entire process of renovation or redecoration, Feng Shui can actually be very simple - simply removing an object or shifting a piece of furniture can have a profound impact on your wellbeing. Patricia provides hilarious, encouraging and thought-provoking examples of her clients’ stuckness, and what it took to ultimately set them free. She asks us to look at our home and office with fresh eyes and consider what has positive or negative associations for our peace of mind. Is there an object in your home that brings painful memories or makes you feel frustrated? Patricia says - get rid of it!

Are you living a life aligned with your core values?

Freedom can look different for everybody. Whether you want to curate the perfect home, make your office a money magnet or live nomadically, Feng Shui can help you create your dream life by reconnecting you with your core values. 

Working with a Feng Shui expert like Patricia can help you assess what’s important to you and how the physical spaces you interact with, can influence a more favorable future. 

Quotes

“I feel like our houses are a reflection of our unconscious.”

“Is this [space] like a shrine to my past or a vision board for my future?”

“I said to my flatmate, I’m not moving out until I move in with my new husband. And it was the truth. I did all the Feng Shui for calling in love.”

“I had one amazing client who was doing all the things - qigong every morning, eating all this special vegetarian food, reading books, doing meditation practices…and still wasn’t in the flow that she wanted. And then I went to her house. And I was like ugh, this is it. It wasn’t good for people, there was so much stuff, the energy was off. All we needed to do was change that and everything she was already doing was amplified.”

“It was in 2016, I started doing a basic online course…We built software and a program so that we get to do virtual consultations for our clients and we transformed the way Feng Shui is done.”

“Our programs help people change and improve their lives for the better. As a business owner, you have to keep reminding yourself of who you’re helping!”

“This is your house. Start to LOVE on it. Be so grateful. Extend gratitude instead of resistance to things you don’t like. Walk around your house and ask yourself, how does this make me feel?”

“People think Feng Shui is a redecorating of your whole house. But with fresh eyes, ask yourself - is anything depleting your energy? Is anything broken? It’s creating stress in your body.”

Links mentioned in this episode:

Visit Patricia Lohan’s website, https://patricialohan.com/ 

Make sure to enter your info to receive free Feng Shui resources for your own home and office: https://patricialohan.com/#free-resources-home 

Listen to Patricia’s podcast, Live your Dreams Awake: https://patricialohan.com/podcast-live-your-dreams-awake/ 

Join Patricia’s thriving online community in her PowerHouse Feng Shui Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/powerhousefengshui 

Follow her on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/PatriciaLohan.RestoringYouBack.ToHarmony/

Connect with Patricia on LinkedIn: https://ie.linkedin.com/in/patricia-lohan-131b222 

Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/lohanpatricia

In Part 2 of our conversation with Dr. Azizi Seixas, we discuss the relationship between medical academia and the opportunities afforded by big tech. In his work in the Media and Innovation Lab (MIL) at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, he teaches new generations of healthcare innovators to stay curious about the solutions to the biggest problems facing healthcare today. 

In his pursuit of a vibrant and equitable future, Dr. Seixas looks for solutions in unexpected places. Open to all possibilities and ideas, he believes that true innovation stems from a purpose-driven life. He uses medicine and technology as tools to create a better world.    Dr. Seixas (Say-shas) is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science and the Director of the Media and Innovation Lab at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He is also the Associate Director for the Center for Translational Sleep and Circadian Sciences (TSCS) and an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Population Health and Psychiatry at NYU Langone. 

Innovation means keeping an open mind

Dr. Seixas teaches students to be innovative leaders of the future. What does that mean? According to Dr. Seixas, it means keeping an open mind - and being a student forever. 

Dr. Seixas encourages us to think of ourselves as expert students with more to learn, humble and always receptive to new ideas. This philosophy is useful in innovation by keeping us on a path of exploration, leading us to exciting solutions we may not have seen otherwise. 

The innovative future of healthcare

When it comes to new solutions to today’s problems, Dr. Azizi Seixas doesn’t shy away from challenging questions. When asked about the relationship between healthcare and big tech companies, his answer was surprising - he’s all for it. 

Rather than approaching the issue with concern, Dr. Seixas is curious about how we could create massive, positive change using funding from big tech. He also sees opportunities for us to build a system of checks and balances, preventing issues before they arise. He envisions a world where healthcare is accessible from the comfort of our own homes, where we don’t have to take time off work to get the care we need and we don’t need to sit in a waiting room to talk with physicians. 

Enjoy Part 2 of this exciting forward-thinking conversation about the future of healthcare with Dr. Azizi Seixas!

Quotes

“When you grow up in a poor working-class family, you become an innovator. You have to find solutions!” 

“In order to stay sharp, you have to force yourself to be a student.”

“To innovate and do bold things, you have to flow forward and chase your goal. When you’re constantly chasing your vision, you’ll always end up being ahead of the curve.”

“My mother always told me, ‘Never take no for an answer’. As a scientist, I think you need to think like this. You need to be flexible - cognitively and emotionally flexible. It allows me to see things optimistically.”

“This is where big tech comes in - they have the infrastructure to scale, and scale quickly. Science gives itself some time to ensure that the results they have are not flukes, and that they are vetted over a period of time. But when it comes to invention and innovation, sometimes we need to do things quickly! We need to accelerate it. Through partnerships where we can quickly implement and iterate on solutions, that’s where medicine needs to go.”

“If you’re pitching an idea, it must have a research question and a problem that you’re solving. If you’re very clear on that, you’re good.”

“If you’re doing the business of serving people, you should never compromise your values for others.”

Links mentioned in this episode:

Visit Dr. Seixas’ website: https://draziziseixas.com/ 

Hire Dr. Seixas to speak, giving your audience an inspiring vision of the future of health: https://draziziseixas.com/speaking/ 

Check out the Media and Innovation Lab (MIL) at the University of Miami School of Medicine: https://med.miami.edu/programs/mil 

See Dr. Seixas featured in the official 2020 Cell Press “100 inspiring Black scientists in America”: https://crosstalk.cell.com/blog/100-inspiring-black-scientists-in-america 

Check out Dr. Seixas’ research timeline as Assistant Professor in the Departments of Population Health and Psychiatry at NYU Langone: https://med.nyu.edu/faculty/azizi-a-seixas

Dr. Azizi Seixas has an impressive bio, but the most extraordinary thing about him is his passion and his purpose.   Dr. Seixas (Say-shas) is an innovator, scientist, thought leader, and technologist. He was voted top 100 most inspiring Black Scientists in America by Cell Press. Currently, he acts as Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science and the Director of the Media and Innovation Lab at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He is also the Associate Director for the Center for Translational Sleep and Circadian Sciences (TSCS) and an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Population Health and Psychiatry at NYU Langone. He studies artificial intelligence and technology with the intention of revolutionizing healthcare systems.

Growing up in inner-city Jamaica, Dr. Seixas got his driven attitude from his hard-working single mother who earned a college, then Master’s degree while working full-time. His passion came from his force-of-nature grandmother, who taught him to question the status quo. “The two things in life that level off human beings are death and education,” she told young Azizi. Motivated to create a more equitable future for all people, he decided to pursue medicine.

Where does your passion come from?

When it comes to the tension between faith and science, Dr. Seixas insists this is a false dichotomy. Steadfast in his faith and belief in people, he uses his pursuit of excellence in health and technology as a tool to help underserved communities get the healthcare they need. 

Despite the common belief that faith and business are in competition with one another, Dr. Seixas encourages us to use one to serve the other. How can you use your entrepreneurial skills, innate talents and spiritual purpose to drive your mission forward?

Innovation is more than just technology.

When we think about innovation, we usually think about technology-What apps are trending, new ways to communicate or share files, and creative ways to work online. But Dr. Seixas reminds us that innovation is about so much more than that!

Innovative thinking is fresh and creative, making complex things simpler and more accessible. Dr. Seixas spends his career teaching young innovators to think about the communities they’re serving and how to most efficiently show up for them. 

What systems can be developed to make healthcare available in their area? What difficulties are they facing that you can create solutions for? And what products or technologies can be produced to serve those needs? Dr. Seixas will inspire you to take an innovative look at your own business, ultimately helping you provide more value to your clients.

Quotes

“I have this burning desire to improve the lives of the have-nots, and to ensure that they can have better health outcomes and live a happy life.”

“We’re trying to reimagine academic medicine and health. We’re doing this by reimagining healthcare by considering education, ensuring research leads us to comprehensive causes of disease, making delivery systems work for people, and creating next-level solutions.”

“Find what you’re here to do. Be passionate about it and work unceasingly so that it’s not about you, it’s for the betterment of others. It so happens that science and medicine are the vehicles through which I can do that.”

“I believe that everyone is super talented, everyone is special and unique. There just aren’t enough people breathing happiness, joy and love into these individuals.”

“In order for you to have a purpose-driven life, it must be steeped in excellence so that people can reap the benefits of your work.”

“It’s a false tension, where science and faith are inadmissible. They go hand in hand. My purpose is driven by what I’m here to do.”

“We imagine a world where instead of going to your physician once or twice a year, we want to shift home as being the primary place where health is done. We want to create infrastructure to provide personalized treatments. We want more prevention, better prevention, and lower costs.”

“Instead of thinking about underserved communities last or not at all, we can roll out programs and studies to look immediately at people across different socioeconomic strata.”   “When we think about innovation, we think tech. But innovation can be many things! Innovation can mean an innovative practice to increase access to care, making complex things simple. That’s what we’re doing.”

Links mentioned in this episode:

Visit Dr. Seixas’ website: https://draziziseixas.com/ 

Hire Dr. Seixas to speak, giving your audience an inspiring vision of the future of health: https://draziziseixas.com/speaking/ 

See Dr. Seixas featured in the official 2020 Cell Press “100 inspiring Black scientists in America”: https://crosstalk.cell.com/blog/100-inspiring-black-scientists-in-america 

Check out Dr. Seixas’ research timeline as Assistant Professor in the Departments of Population Health and Psychiatry at NYU Langone: https://med.nyu.edu/faculty/azizi-a-seixas

Even before the pandemic and the great resignation, Sara Aviram was curious about remote work. By now, she’s a renowned expert. 

Sara was working for a tech company when she began researching the value of working from home by exploring it herself. After working remotely from 12 countries in 12 months in 2019, researching and living the future of work, she published the best-selling book, Remotivation: The Remote Workers Ultimate Guide to Life-Changing Fulfillment.

Sarah Aviram is a workshop facilitator and keynote speaker and has spoken at Google, American Express, Avon, Bank of America, PepsiCo and NYU School of Business on creating successful hybrid work environments, team connectivity in remote work, and optimizing workforce performance by motivating workers.

Begin by getting curious

Sara began with a question: What is the value of remote work, and how can we use it effectively? And what are the benefits and challenges of remote work? 

While still employed as a Director of Talent Development for a New York-based tech company, Sara was looking into ways to recruit quality talent when she noticed a trend-people were talking more and more about remote work. In the interest of finding and retaining the best talent from around the globe, Sara’s boss set her free to try it out and report back. 

When the pandemic hit and Sara was suddenly laid off, her interest in remote work didn’t lessen-it grew exponentially. She realized that this was her opportunity to bring her findings to print and help others find greater satisfaction in their work lives.

The six factors that drive our decisions about work

In her book, Sara discusses the six contributing factors to our happiness with work: Money, identity, routines, growth, impact and joy. She asks us to evaluate our priorities, find where our values actually lie, and create a life that serves us.

Be sure to listen to this high-quality interview with Sara Aviram to get a taste of the wisdom to be found in her book, and finally discover the working arrangement that works for you!

Quotes

“If you don’t like your job in Baltimore, you’re not going to love it in Bali.”

“I thought I was just writing a book for a small niche group of remote workers…and then the whole world became remote. I started my own business doing workshops for companies to help them motivate and engage remote workers and help them perform at their best!”

“You never know where opportunities are gonna come from. You have to keep getting the word out about what you do.”

“More people are quitting their jobs at a record rate. There are a few reasons. We came out of a global pandemic, and people during that time started reevaluating their lives, what’s important and what role they want work to play in their lives.”

“During the pandemic, a lot of people didn’t spend money. They saved and had a little nest egg. They started to think, maybe I should start that business I’ve always wanted to start! Maybe I could take some time before I jump back into something!”

“It’s important to think not just about what kind of work you’re good at, but also what kind of work energizes you? Those two things could be different. What do you want to do more of?”

Links mentioned in this episode:

Visit Sara Aviram’s website: https://sarahaviram.com/ 

Purchase her book, Remotivation: The Remote Workers Ultimate Guide to Life-Changing Fulfillment: https://sarahaviram.com/book/ 

Hire Sara to speak at your event or facilitate a workshop: https://sarahaviram.com/speaking/ 

Connect with Sara on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahaviram/