The Meaning Movement: Rediscover your Passion, Avoid Burnout, and Do Work You Love.

Ronsley Vaz is a man of many talents. His work has been diverse - from being a software engineer to financial advisor to a chef. Now he primarily helps entrepreneurs by guiding them to use their voice — something we care a lot about around here.

As you'll hear in this interview, his journey with finding and embracing his voice goes back to his childhood, which is true for many of us as we search for and find our voices. With his work today he helps business owners find what matters, speak their inner truths, and solve meaningful problems in the world.

In this episode you'll learn:

• Ronsley's beliefs around his work
• What using your voice means to Ronsley
• Why he helps business owners to use their voice
• Why is audio and voice expression important
• Where do you start to find your voice
• Importance of authenticity
• Mothers as original entrepreneurs
• Ronsley's journey to becoming an entrepreneur
• How Ronsley understands people's perception of him
• Ronsley's transitions from one career step to the next
• Thoughts on monetizing your passion
• Integrating and embracing different parts of your life
• Understanding and managing social media content outreach
• Own your identity and be authentic

Show notes at: https://themeaningmovement.com/ronsley

April Johnson has been working with the United States Postal Services (USPS) for the past 34 years. Add to that, she is also a realtor who got her license in 2020 by breaking through her fear and passing the test with flying colors. Amidst Covid, she found the courage to pursue what she loves and is currently working in her two roles with so much gratification!

This was such a fun conversation. I loved hearing how April balances both of her pursuits, what it's like to work in an organization like the USPS, how she's thinking about her upcoming transition, and so much more!

In this episode you'll learn:

• What April does
• How she got into United States Postal Service (USPS)
• How her work experience has been and the roles she's managed
• How the skills from her current role cross over to real estate
• The importance of the human touch and customer relationships
• How attractive are the benefits of USPS really
• April's backstory into real estate
• How April froze with fear and overcame it
• How the Covid lockdown helped April through her journey
• The real-estate test and what's next
• What to look for when signing up for your brokerage
• How social media helped April transition personally
• Getting beyond the fear of sharing yourself on social media
• How to move through that "stuck" feeling

Show notes at: https://themeaningmovement.com/april

Emil is a medical doctor turned coach, turned entrepreneur, and investor. What began as a scripted path into medicine took a turn as he realized that practicing medicine wasn't solving patients' health problems as thoroughly as he would like. He embarked on a personal and professional journey to redefine his work.

Today Emil spends his time across a few of his ventures, as well as traveling, training, and seeking to live a full life. I left this interview feeling inspired. And I think you will too.

As well as building businesses he loves traveling, training, eating good food and striving for a peak life.

In this episode you'll learn:

• What Emil does
• Why people get stressed about health
• How he ended up in this field
• Why he got into coaching
• His transitional journey
• The importance of shifting identity
• How to navigate family responses to career change
• How to manage family expectations
• How he discovered making money online
• The importance of goals
• Mental and physical health tips

Show notes at: https://themeaningmovement.com/emil

Scott Aasman is an artist, illustrator and, until recently, a carpenter working out of Hamilton, Ontario where he lives with his wife Michelle and their two children.

I had a great time exploring Scott's work, his identity, and his approach to both his creative process and his career. I left this interview feeling inspired. And I think you will too.

In this episode you'll learn:

• What Scott does
• How he talks about his style
• How he approaches his creative process
• How he came to embrace himself as an artist
• How he dealt with career pressure
• How he recovered his artistic drive
• Thoughts on pioneering your own identity
• How important it is to follow your interests in art
• How he thinks about his artistic voice
• The importance of giving kids the opportunity to be creative

Show notes at: https://themeaningmovement.com/scott

I met Stephen Somers a few months back and immediately resonated with his story and his work. He is the CEO and co-founder of Marketplace Superheroes. As you'll hear in his story, what started as a curiosity and desire to self educate around online business turned into an informal externship, then partnership, and finally multiple new endeavors in online business. He's so much fun to talk to and I love the mission behind what Stephen and his business partner are doing. There are so many great take aways from his story. A few examples are how he created opportunities for himself and took risks to go where he could get exposure to the things that he wanted to learn and master.

In this episode you'll learn:

• What Stephen does
• Has entrepreneurship always been a part of who he is?
• His process of letting go of past dreams
• How his family reacted to his ideas of entrepreneurship
• The importance of building a network
• How to start connecting to people
• How he started selling online
• How did he transition from his job to entrepreneurship
• How he found his business partner and mentor
• When is the right time to start your dream
• His approach to partnerships in the business
• How he handles the business bumps along the way
• How he handles the temptation to quit when things are hard
• Where he got the resolve to go on
• Where he finds meaning in his work

Show notes at: https://themeaningmovement.com/somers

Mark Zhang tried a lot of things before starting his current company, Manta Sleep. As I reflect on this interview that you're about to hear, I'm most impressed by our conversation about his trial and error approach to entrepreneurship. There's an important lesson for all of us in this. We rarely get it right the first time. Our first thing is rarely our one thing. And even if it is, it may only be for a season. Whether you're crafting a career, a life, or an entrepreneurial pursuit, give yourself the space to try and fail, and then learn from it. Mark describes himself as the Chief Napper at Manta Sleep a company whose mission is to empower light sleepers to sleep better so they can do more. He believes prioritizing rest and sleep is the secret to unlocking organizational excellence, and realizing people's full potential. Mark has a passion for physical products and has created several 7-figure eCommerce companies in the last 10 years. I can't wait for you to hear Mark's journey and some of his reflections on these themes.

In this episode you'll learn:

• What Mark does
• How did he ended doing affiliate marketing
• How pressures fueled his career journey
• How life events can be a catalyst to jump start your career
• Why some careers are so draining
• Why entrepreneurship is not for everyone
• How your self-doubts can define who you become
• The importance of seeking out contexts to meet people
• Where to find a circle or community to join
• How Mark defines a "Light Sleeper"
• The product line of Mantis
• The importance of napping
• How to improve your sleep

Show notes at: https://themeaningmovement.com/mark

I needed today's conversation so much. Both this interview and the last one we release came while I was in a bit of an inflection point professionally with one of my other projects. As many of you know, I have run a few businesses. One of which was in a bit of turmoil. I'm happy to say now, that we came out the other side very well. If you want to know more about my other project, subscribe over at themeaningmovement.com. But as i said before the last episode, this felt like a case where, as the saying goes, when the student is ready the teacher appears. And boy was I ready. Adam Andersen has done a lot of great things. He's starting over 20 companies, had multiple exits and written a bunch of books. We talk about transition points, and dig deep into the concept of mentorship — something that's really important to my life. And something that's been instrumental in his success.

In this episode you'll learn:

• What Adam does
• Some of his transitions throughout his journey
• How he lost his job
• Why good people still get fired
• How he got his first client
• How to pick a mentor
• How to properly define mentorship
• Why mentorship shouldn't last
• Why it's hard to find a great mentor
• What Adam means by "firing yourself"
• How Adam fired himself
• Discovering your major life themes

Show notes at: https://themeaningmovement.com/adam

There's an old saying: when the student is ready, the teacher appears. I looked this up, trying to find where it came from. It's pretty unclear. But it's a truth that you know when you experience it. When you're ready to level up and learn something, related things hit you differently. Certain interactions carry more weight and penetrate you deeper than they might have in other times. Both today's conversation and the next one I'll be releasing were those kinds of conversations for me. As many of you know, outside of the Meaning Movement I have a few other project. And while I was recording these episodes, I had a lot happening with one of them. It was a bit of a watershed moment. If you want to know more about my other project, go to themeaningmovement.com and subscribe. All of which is to say I needed this conversation in ways that I didn't expect. Our guest, Itamar Marani, is a mindset coach. While that may sound a bit out there, he is anything but that. He's down to earth and strategic in his approach. He's a former member of the Israeli special ops and jujitsu contender. He now helps entrepreneurs identify and overcome their internal obstacles. There's something in this conversation for everyone. Why? Because every time you change you need a new way of thinking. And you can't always see what you need to change to become the next version of yourself, until you have someone helping you identify it.

In this episode you'll learn:

• What Itamar does
• How he began his career
• How his military background has helped his career
• Why he moved on from military service
• What motivated his transition
• How he made the transition successful
• How to define mindset
• How to know if your mindset is off
• Three core fears that stop us from getting what we want
• How he work with clients on mindset issues
• How to improve your mindset

Show notes at: https://themeaningmovement.com/itamar

Melanie is a digital marketer turned Realtor who has landed in Austin, TX after years living as a nomad and traveling around the world. She runs a global real estate team, and works hard in and out of her real estate business to help as many people live happy, healthy and meaningful lives. In this interview all kinds of areas related to how you navigate career choices — especially how Melanie has found so much success simply by keeping her options open.

In this episode you'll learn:

• What Melanie does
• Why you don't have to pursue dreams early in your life in order to achieve them
• How important it is to keep your options open
• Her secret to finding success
• Her journey from zero to leading a group of real estate agents
• How she made her transition into marketing and then to real estate
• How to decide between one career or multiple careers to sustain financial stability
• How Melanie helps new real estate agents
• What is the demographic of the people she is working with
• How to do real estate in other countries
• Why it's helpful to reach out to mentors who've gone through the same challenges as you're facing
• How to handle resistance from families and loved ones
• How to find mentors
• How to find your purpose
• Why you should not be too hard on yourself
• How to set a goal
• Importance of journaling

Show notes at: https://themeaningmovement.com/melanie

So many of us have multiple passions that compete for time, attention, and resources — especially when it comes to our careers and work. So often we feel the need to choose one thing and leave behind all the rest in order to excel and succeed. But what if you don't actually have to choose? What if you can be successful at more than one pursuit at that same time? This is a question I often ask myself. If you've listened to the show for some time, you'll know that's true about me. Culture tends to push us toward the myth that we can only do one thing to be successful. And while there is a trade off involved in multiple pursuits, there's also a synergy that can be present between projects. Our guest today demonstrates that well. Calvin Nowell is both a singer and marketer. He pursues both in tandem as two parellel careers. We get into his story, why he does what he does, how he got to meet Oprah, and so many other fantastic things. So let's dive into it.

In this episode you'll learn:

• What Calvin does
• How he navigates multiple careers
• His non-linear career path
• How he categorizes himself professionally
• How to battle doubts and negative emotions during transitions
• How to enjoy being creative in life
• The meaning of "collecting dots" in life
• Why you need to choose to "Be yourself"
• His experience meeting Oprah
• How The Meaning Movement touched Calvin's life
• When is the right time for a change or to make a transition

Show notes at: https://themeaningmovement.com/calvin