When You Grow Up Podcast

Indy Shome and I discuss his unique personal/professional journey, where his objective is to help cultivate more whole system-level thinkers to solve common problems in education and access to information. We talk about confirmation bias and the importance of hearing stories from a variety of perspectives. 

Indy is disrupting traditional education in the program where he teaches at Murrell Dobbins Career and Technical Education High School. He describes the program as relationship-centered, and focused on real-life feedback and application.  

A little bit about Indy Shome, written by Indy Shome: 

Indy Shome is an interdisciplinary humanist who works with music, media, and education. His work over the last year has included scoring an indie film, releasing a collaboration album with a Moscow-based throat singing ensemble, building an e-commerce solution for a local business, developing virtual video journalism resources for WHYY, writing a screenplay, volunteering with a number of community organizations, and in September 2020, designing and launching Philadelphia’s first high school Career & Tech (CTE) program in Music & Media, which was recently recognized with a Lindy Award for education and neighbourhood development.

He was born in Calcutta in 1989, and grew up around India as well as in Hong Kong and Singapore before moving to the US for university and earning “EB-1” US Residency for his work in music. His formal education includes an independent interdisciplinary B.A. in “Music, Media, and Consciousness” from Brown University as well as certificates from Harvard Business School, New York Film Academy, and the City of Philadelphia’s Citizens Planning Institute.

A few references you may be interested in reading more about:

• CTE: Career Technical Education
• Hans Rosling, Anna Rosling Ronnlund, and Ola Rosling’s book Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are Better Than You Think
• Food Policy Advisory Council, https://phillyfpac.org/
• Participatory Action Research
• Soil Generation, urban agriculture, https://soilgeneration.org/
• Community Wealth, https://community-wealth.org/
• Grassroots Economic Organizing, https://geo.coop/
• YEAH Philly, youth organization searchable on Facebook, http://yeahphilly.org/
• B. Alan Wallace’s book Taboo of Subjectivity: Toward a New Science of Consciousness

Other community organization links:

• Philadelphia Citizens Planning Institute, https://citizensplanninginstitute.org/
• Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance, https://philadelphia.coop/
• Women's Community Revitalization Project, https://www.wcrpphila.org/
• [video] Michael O'Bryan — "Future Folklore" 

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#wygupodcast #podcast #career #professionalgrowth #personalgrowth #systemsthinking #education #mentors #yoga #community #career #technicaleducation #confirmationbias

Shahzad Khokhar and I discuss the many things that make up a person, including family,  what fuels you, and how you deal with setbacks.

When you are open to learning from others, you will never be disappointed. Shahzad and I first connected in 2019 and hadn’t truly learned about one another until recently, when I asked if he’d join me as a guest on When You Grow Up. Thank you for your time Shahzad!

Shahzad Khokhar started his consulting company, araZach, in late 2019. He and his team are part of the Salesforce network of partners and offer a variety of services related to Salesforce implementation and use. In addition to building his business, he is an educator with the Boston University Online MBA Program, and inventor and co-founder of KloudSign digital signage.  

I admire Shahzad for his style of being a role model for his daughter--which he shared with me is more about himself practicing the habits he wants her to have--and for his perspective on what emotional fulfillment means to him. So many elements of this discussion stand out to me, but in particular was Shahzad’s story about an experience he had with an executive coach after he said, “I want to be better than everybody else. How do I do it?” Listen at 22:23 to hear the answer he received.

Some of the things we reference in the episode that you may be interested in:

• araZach, https://www.arazach.com/
• BU Online MBA Program
• KloudSign, https://www.mykloudsign.com/
• John C. Maxwell’s book The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader
• RPA: Robotic processing analytics; Automation Anywhere and Blue Prism

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#wygupodcast #podcast #professionalgrowth #personalgrowth #career #mentor #rolemodel #creativity #Salesforce #MBA #family #parenthood

Kelly Taylor Stoner and I discuss her ongoing journey to becoming an entrepreneur, the purpose of personal branding, and the importance of taking career risks in order to grow.

In this episode of When You Grow Up, I learn more about Kelly Taylor Stoner, PMP.  Kelly graduated from Cabrini University with a BS in Marketing, then earned her Project Management Professional (PMP) certification in 2018 from the Project Management Institute (PMI). Kelly is taking on more leadership responsibility at 11outof11, works as a Freelance Project Manager + Marketer, and recently joined the Marketing and Communications Committee at PMI Delaware Valley Chapter as Director of Digital Marketing (Volunteer).

I admire Kelly for her drive to create opportunities for herself, willingness to share her marketing expertise, and pragmatic approach to risk taking.

A few references you may be interested in reading more about:

• Leadership Resources (program and resources) https://lrsuccess.com/
• Brene Brown's podcasts Unlocking Us and Dare to Lead: https://brenebrown.com/podcasts/
• Mark Brackett's book Permission to Feel: Unlocking the Power of Emotions to Help Our Kids, Ourselves, and Our Society Thrive
• HubSpot Blog: https://blog.hubspot.com/

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#wygupodcast #podcast #projectmanagement #marketing #professionalgrowth #personalgrowth #career #mentor #rolemodel #creativity #brand #personalbrand

Sudha Suryadevara and I reflect on the personal and community impacts of volunteering, why she earned an MBA, and being open to new opportunities. Sudha graduated from Temple University in 2005, with a BS in Sport and Recreation Management, and earned her MBA from Arcadia University in 2011. Now, she's the Chief of Staff for Philadelphia Parks & Recreation.


A few references you may be interested in reading more about:

• Philadelphia Tree Tenders Program: https://phsonline.org/programs/tree-programs
• Philadelphia Love Your Park Week: https://loveyourpark.org/volunteer
• Philadelphia Streets Department Block Captains: https://www.philadelphiastreets.com/pmbc/become-a-block-captain/
• National Recreation and Park Association: https://www.nrpa.org/

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#wygupodcast #podcast #MBA #career #personalgrowth #mentor #rolemodel #Philadelphia #parks #gardening #communitygarden #volunteering

Amy Saunders and I talk about alternative ways to respond to the question, "what do you want to be when you grow up," the power of affirmations, and re/connecting with people. I have always admired Amy for her perennial positivity, which permeates the groups she’s part of. Something in this episode that stood out to me personally was our discussion of how we decide where to spend our time, and not get stuck in the sometimes-toxic mindset that busy = productive.

A couple references you may be interested in reading more about:

1. The Place We Find Ourselves (Adam Young, LCSW, MDiv) Episode 52, a podcast.
2. WheezyWaiter, “We Complimented Each Other & Strangers Every Day for a Month, Here’s What Happened”, YouTube video.

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When was the last time someone asked you what you want to be when you grow up? What would your answer be?

Welcome to the first episode of the podcast When You Grow Up. I’m your host, Kaitlyn Luboff.

I started this podcast to ask that question of as many people as I can, and share those stories with you. I’m interested in what folks choose to spend their time on, and how that changes over a lifetime. When do we really stop growing up anyway?

Something I’m learning that’s surprised me is that I’m not the only one who’s still figuring out what they want to be when they grow up. I’m hoping these stories will inspire all of us to take those risks we’ve been thinking about, whether that be starting a project, switching industries, or taking on more responsibility in your local community organization. I hope you find some useful nuggets in here that remind you no two personal and professional journeys are the same. 

Check out our website at whenyougrowup.org, and follow me on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/kaitlynluboff-pmp to provide feedback on the episodes.

Thank you for tuning in!