"Happiness is something that is cultivated within, it is not something that we get from outside of ourselves."

Jay Abbasi, a mindfulness, sales, and leadership consultant, joins the podcast to talk about the importance of mindfulness and introspection in finding purpose and connecting with others.

You can find out more about Jay's work at www.jayabbasi.me

“It’s forming relationships and sharing knowledge.”

Heather Monthie, Assoc Dean of Technology at Grand Canyon University, is a life-long learner as well as educator. In this episode, she talks about being brave in pursuing new passions. People learn by doing, so why not try? She recommends exploring, forgiving yourself for your mistakes and allowing yourself to move on if it just doesn’t work. And key to success? Be brave enough to ask the people you admire to teach you. 

“As consumers, the ethical use of our data is at the heart of who we trust and who we do business and interact with.”

Our consumer information is brokered, yet we have no access to it ourselves. It was this conundrum that led Adam Newman to create Pyrl, a platform that gives consumers access to their purchase data and therefore insight into their wallets, health and privacy. In this podcast, he describes the story behind Pyrl, encouraging a trust-based economy, and being brave enough to pursue his passion. 

“That spirit of experimentation and being open to new things is incredibly important right now”

In this episode, Dave Cole, CEO and Co-Founder of Open Raven, talks about the sales challenges faced by a data security start up in the midst of a pandemic. Open Raven chose empathy over fear. But for Dave, the more important challenge lay in creating a company culture that built employee connections and fostered trust for a remote workforce. His solution: experimentation and innovation.

You can find more from Dave Cole on Open Raven's Blog and his podcast Security Voices.

“While you’re here, make it impactful, make a difference, leave a legacy.”

Alex Sheridan, social media marketer extraordinaire talks about what it means to live a life focused on legacy. He describes the challenge of balancing giving back while growing a business and the true cost of success - sheer hard work. He also thinks it’s time we employed a little empathy and civility in the digital world. Before commenting on social media, consider your intent and the impact.

http://www.impaxs.com

“We have to fuel and keep the focus on the next generation, helping them to understand and get it right this time.” April Boyd-Noronho

“We’re not going to stop, we’ll be more fuelled, because that country that disappointed me, it’s my country. I love this country with all its issues, even today.” Kavya Pearlman

Kavya Pearlman, CEO and Founder, and April Boyd-Noronha, Global Diversity and Inclusion Advisor, Board Member, at XR Safety Initiative join the podcast to talk about racism. 

As women of color in these changing and challenging times, they discuss how they are feeling, coping and moving forward. April is exhausted by the weight of racism in America. Her focus is now on the next generation, “helping them to understand and get it right this time.” Kavya is disappointed by her much loved adopted country but refuses to be overwhelmed by the enormity of the change required. She explains, “Let’s do something about it. Making better choices, we can begin there.”

“The potential here is unmatched. Africa has by far the highest growth rate of any continent both in terms of population but also in terms of economics.”

In this episode, Daniel Yu talks about Sokowatch, the innovative company he founded in East Africa that helps mom-and-pop shops access supplies using a low-tech text-message based system. He describes fighting the hierarchical bias in Africa with the four values that guide Sokowatch: giving employees ownership, rewarding merit, unlocking potential, and respecting our family.

You can find out more at www.sokowatch.com

“Everybody needs a home.”

Stephanie Nisan, Broker at The Stoz Group and Founder of The Animal Pad, talks in this podcast about how she combines her career in real estate with managing her animal rescue charity. The common thread is passion.

She describes the incredible effect the pandemic and ensuing quarantine have had on homeless animals. On one hand, more animals are in need as their financially struggling owners are forced to surrender them; but on the other hand, many people find they now have the time to foster an animal. The Animal Pad’s statistics are testimony to this: 2019 saw 319 rescues, yet, in just the first half of 2020, they have saved 439.

If you’d like to get involved, visit The Animal Pad.

"You have to be willing to fail miserably and experience as much pain as you can imagine from that, and then you still have to get up and try again.”

Childhood bullying left Sami Kader believing the taunts and thinking the worst of himself. A single positive influence in his life turned everything around. Sami was paying that message forward by visiting over 150 elementary schools every year with his program Sami’s Circuit until COVID interrupted everything. You can hear his incredible and positive story here.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheRealSamiKader

Website: https://www.samiscircuit.com/

“The key to it is if you learn how to forgive yourself then you learn how to accept yourself and the big unlock to that is, then you learn how to love yourself.”

Mark Metry, the self-described Human, Podcaster, Author and Speaker, joins this podcast as the guest. He shares his amazing story of pulling his family out of poverty at a young age, his battles with depression, and how telling your story can help others. He recommends working on yourself like a passion project and to do that successfully, you must forgive yourself, accept yourself, and love yourself. It's great advice.

You can find out more about Mark's work here at www.markmetry.com.