Feisworld Podcast

In the past year or so, I find myself increasingly attached to audiobooks. One of the books not only   spoke to me emotionally but also offered tactics I am able to apply daily, especially during the preparation and making of feisworld podcast. Dorie Clark is the author of this book, one of my new favorites, called Stand Out. There's a very important and useful idea not found in her book that you will hear in this podcast conversation.   Many people jumping into the entrepreneurial world has something different about them. Many people in Silicon Valley (investors, technologists, customers) have a mental image of what a successful startup entrepreneur looks like (i.e. Mark Zuckerberg). If you don't look like that, they may pass you over because you don't fit what they are looking for. Rather than sticking on that point, Dorie explains that if you continue to work hard and push through that early stage, to the point where customers, and later the press have noticed the results you created, you will find that yo

I interviewed Chris Yen, an actress and entrepreneur from a proud lineage of Wushu and Tai Chi masters. Her mom, Bow Sim Mark, is one of the premier Chinese martial arts practitioners. Her brother, Donnie Yen, is currently the #1 Kung Fu action star in Hong Kong whose latest film Ip Man 3 will be released in 2016. Chris recently launched a fashion brand (June 2015) called ChrisYenFusion featuring athletic inspired casual wear. Chris had never worked as a fashion designer, yet she was determined to be an entrepreneur with the support of family and friends. She recalls the experience as an 8-month boot camp. I have always been fascinated by women who are unmistakably curious and resilient. Chris is certainly one of them. "We should always stay fluid and let our minds be reshaped. You can equip and empower yourself with knowledge, which is really the thing that nobody can take away from you." - Chris Yen   Together in this episode, we explored Chris' origins and traveled to the time when she was growing up

Today on the Feisworld Podcast, you will meet Mariann Bucina Roca, an Executive Director from the Friends of Boston's Homeless (FOBH).    Did you know that Boston was a pioneer in addressing homeless needs? As part of this movement, FOBH played a significant part in helping homeless individuals transition from the streets and shelters to lead stable independent lives. One main focus for FOBH is to remove the final barriers during transitions that city and state programs often don’t have the means to cover.    I invited Mariann, who has devoted 20 years of her life to speak about a variety of programs offered by FOBH in the City of Boston including: Housing First, vocational training, workforce development, adult education, employment services,  transitional and permanent affordable housing, as well as the emergency shelters.    In the past 5 years, I’ve attended every single one of FOBH's annual event. Thanks to Matt Lindley, a Board Member at FOBH, and a lifelong friend and mentor.   In addition to FOBH, I h

I had the pleasure of interviewing a colleague, Renee Herendeen from Arnold Worldwide, on the feisworld podcast. Renee and I work on several of projects together.  We share similar beliefs when it comes to life at work and outside of work. One morning, Renee said to Carrie (my coworker) and me: "You two should come to my Zumba class on Tuesdays." "Did you say Z.U.M.B.A?" Though I teach Taekwondo (a form of Korean martial arts) to adults and children at my dojang once in a while, instructing a crowd of people you've never met to learn how to dance seemed out of my reach. For those of you who aren't familiar with Zumba, it is an aerobic program inspired by a variety of Latin dance movements performed to upbeat, sassy music. It is a fun, relaxing and sweat-dripping workout that engraves a permanent smile on my face. Some of the dots began to connect for me.  For months I had known Renee, I often wondered why she handles stressful situations with  ease, why she doesn't loses her temper, why she listens (while man

Alexander Kjerulf (pronounced a little like care-oolf.) is the founder and Chief Happiness Officer (CHO) of Woohoo inc and one of the world’s leading experts on happiness at work. He is an author and speaker, presenting and conducting workshops on happiness at work at businesses and conferences in over 30 countries. His clients include companies like Hilton, Microsoft, LEGO, IKEA, Shell, HP and IBM. Alex was "officially" introduced to me by Stephen Shario, a guest from an earlier episode of the feisworld podcast. Long before I found out that Alex is a connection of Stephen's, I had already been reading Alex's blog called The Chief Happiness Officer Blog. A more recent article I loved is called "Why every company should have a CHO?" Studies show that happy employees are more productive, more innovative, more motivated, more energetic and more optimistic. They are also less sick, stay with the company longer and make the customers more loyal. For those reasons (and many others) happy companies make more money.

Show notes, links and resources: https://www.feisworld.com/blog/tom-seabourne Tom Seaborne is a fitness educator, author, martial artist and cyclist. Tom has a Ph.D. in exercise science. He was a member of the US. Taekwondo Team, and a National and International AAU Taekwondo Champion. In addition to Taekwondo, Tom is an ESPN professional Karate Association full-contact karate winner.  If there are avid cyclists who are listening to this podcast, it’s worth mentioning that Tom was the winner of RAAM Open West, and ranked top 10 in the 1990 Race Across America. Tom holds a National 12-hr record holder (229 miles), a 24-hr Texas State Cycling Champion (1740 miles in 7 days) and a Guinness World Indoor Cycling Record in 2009 (185 hours). Besides competition, Tom appeared on a number of televisions and video series such as the QVC Fitness Expert. He also co-hosted the #1 rated infomercial 6-second abs, Fox Morning Show, Good Morning Texas, Stay Fit ABC, Inside Fitness – CBS National and many others. Tom has

Tom Seaborne is a fitness educator, author, marital artist and cyclist.   Tom has a Ph.D in exercise science. He was a member of the US. Taekwondo Team, and a National and International AAU Taekwondo Champion.    In addition to Taekwondo, Tom is an ESPN professional Karate Association full-contact karate winner.  If there are avid cyclists who are listening to this podcast, it’s worth mentioning that Tom was the winner of RAAM Open West, and ranked top 10 in the 1990 Race Across America. Tom holds a National 12-hr record holder (229 miles), a 24-hr Texas State Cycling Champion (1740 miles in 7 days) and a Guinness World Indoor Cycling Record in 2009 (185 hours).   Besides competition, Tom appeared on a number of televisions and video series such as the QVC Fitness Expert. He also co-hosted the #1 rated infomercial 6 second abs, Fox Morning Show, Good Morning Texas, Stay Fit ABC, Inside Fitness - CBS National and many others.   Tom has authored over 200 articles and 16 books. You can find them on Amazon.   Wh

Wade Devers is an Executive Creative Director and Managing Director at Arnold Worldwide. He always leaves a unique impression. When I first walked in the door at the Arnold office back in December 2013, I must had met dozens of people on Day 1. I remember forcing myself to remember all the names and faces an felt completely overwhelmed. When Wade walked by me for the first time, I remember thinking "That beard! That face! That outfit!" but most importantly, "That spirit!"  Wade is both funny and fun to be around. He truly doesn’t look or dress like anyone else I’ve met (which makes remembering him incredibly easy). But what I like most about Wade is his spirit which I refer to as "spiritually warm" - by which I mean: you just can’t help wanting to be friends with him. If you are listening to this episode because you come from Arnold and have worked with Wade before, you’ll likely discover many things you didn’t know about him. We talk about agency life of course such as what it is like to be an Executive Crea

As the Director of Audience Engagement at Peppercom, Sam works with companies to better listen to, empathize with, understand, and serve their customers and other key audiences through communications and storytelling.  There are three major components to Sam’s job: Client consulting Design thinking (and how it applies to communication) Writing, speaking, and being on industry board (-> this one is probably my favorite!) [iframe style="border: none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/3479372/height/100/width/480/theme/standard/direction/no/autoplay/no/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/preload/no/no_addthis/no/" height="50" width="1000" scrolling="no"  allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen] Sam was introduced to me by Josh Green, remember Josh from Episode #2 back in November 2014? Sam and Josh co-authored the book Spreadable Media: creating value and meaning in a networked culture.  When you hear the word "media", you may already be thinking about t

It is with great pleasure for me to welcome Dr. Lee Schwamm, Professor of Neurology from Harvard Medical School, Vice Chair of Neurology from Mass General Hospital (MGH) to the feisworld podcast.  In this one-hour interview, Lee talks with me about a Day in the Life of a Neurologist at MGH, followed by a 20-min deep dive into the study and evolution of patient care and patient satisfaction. What are some of the more straightforward vs. ambiguous measurements in patient care? Consider these domains: 1) measurements of doctors' intentions, 2) whether or not their intentions match the patients’ wishes, or 3) by the outcomes themselves, or 4) by the procedures doctors recommend.    Some of you may already be thinking about crowd sourcing. But in this case, does the crowd know best? What exactly are the values people look for in a doctor, or in a hospital?    In the second half of this interview, I time traveled with Lee back to when he was still in college. What was Lee’s secret origin story that shaped him into

Ira Cummings is my guest on the feisworld podcast. He is a Sr. Designer at Arnold Worldwide, with a background and training in illustration. I called him out as the first introvert ever invited to the podcast (perhaps, others may just be better at hiding it). But let’s face it, #IntrovertsRule. They are focused, thoughtful, and often bring the most surprising ideas and solutions to the table. Ira is one of them, whom I had the pleasure to work with in the past year on a variety of projects.    Ira has a Open Studio coming up Friday April 10th - 12th 2015. If you happen to listen to this podcast before the show, look up Miller Street Open Studio in Somerville and that’s where you will meet Ira and his artworks.    In this one hour conversation with Ira, we talked about design, branding, experiencing the brand as a customer and vice versa - engaging with customers as a brand.    Ira and I area also in the process of rebranding the feisworld podcast. He says:”When my friends embark on something that's so close

I’d like to welcome Lisa Leffert to join me on the feisworld podcast! Lisa the Chief of Obstetric Anesthesia at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). The focus of Lisa’s clinical work is on the care of pregnant patients. Together with a highly-skilled, multidisciplinary team, Lisa administrates a service, which features 3600 deliveries a year (that is, nearly 10 births per day), involving both low and high-risk obstetric patients, on the Labor Floor and in the associated operating rooms. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/feisworld/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/feisworld/support

“I must have been 6 or 7 years old. I remember gun battle, unmanned helicopter, deserted soldiers. There were candy stores that no one was watching. I wondered if we could just go get candies!” Van recalled his last memories of Vietnam before he left with his father, grandmother and eight brothers and sisters in April 1975 during the Fall of Saigon. My special guest on the feisworld podcast is Van Le. We first met in 2006 and kept in touch ever since. Van is now the father of two adorable children and runs his law practice at Van Paul Le, PC Law Firm in Dorchester, MA. In this episode, Van speaks to us about his journey from the Fall of Saigon to Commonwealth School, Harvard University (and running the biggest student organization at Harvard called Phillips Brooks House as the President during Junior and Senior year), running a campaign for the Mayor of Cambridge (and won), one year of public service in Philippines, the Sports Philanthropy Project and most recently launching his own law practice. --- Sen

Clint authored and edited an impressive number of books (Good Reads). The most recent one is called: The Boys of Everest: The Tragic Story of Climbing's Greatest Generation. Clint is also the owner of The Writing Company.  In Part 2, we discover the answers to secret origin questions such as: Has Clint always been the kind of person he is today? What is Clint's psychological makeup that contributes to his success and lifestyle? A Day in Clint's Life (AM to PM) - what is his daily ritual?  How does Clint practice yoga, meditation and mindfulness? Really, how does he get calm? How to be comfortable with change and uncertainty? --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/feisworld/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/feisworld/support

Clint authored and edited a number of books (Good Reads). The most recent one is called: The Boys of Everest: The Tragic Story of Climbing's Greatest Generation. Clint and I immediately sparked a conversation about spirituality, meditation and what it means to live a meaningful life. When I was a little girl growing up in Beijing, I dreamed of living a Californian life. At the age of 27, I asked Clint: "What if I want to surf?" He responded, "You surf." Before we get down to business, here are a few fun facts about Clint: An avid surfer who discovered surfing at the age of 50 Worked as an editor at Times in NYC before founding The Writing Company in 1983 Regularly practices medication, yoga and surfs as much as he can near his home in Portland, Maine In Part 1 of our interview, Clint dissects the construction of his company, The Writing Company, and answers questions such as: How to create and sustain a collaborative environment? What is the process to p

Eli Schwamm's full episode (Ep. 27) was the single, most downloaded episode of the feisworld podcast. I want to take this opportunity and create a soundbite version of the audio focusing on his stories volunteering at Samaritans Boston. Enjoy!   Eli is a high schooler, audio engineer, rap singer, song writer, and a volunteer at Samaritans of Boston (suicide prevention) for 2 years. He started his journey at Samaritans when he was just 16 years old. I remember hearing about it for the first time and not knowing exactly how to react. Instead, I decided to respect Eli’s decision but paid close attention to his journey. I have known Eli since he was a little kid. He has always shown a tremendous amount of compassion for others and deep appreciation for the life we have. How did the Samaritans volunteering opportunity come about? A Day in the Life of a Samaritans Volunteers (find out how little you know). What are the policies for working at Samaritans and what Eli is trained to help? What is the most controversi

Eli Schwamm is going to be the youngest guest on the feisworld podcast (for quite some time, I expect). At 17, Eli is a high schooler, audio engineer, rap singer, song writer, and a volunteer at Samaritans of Boston for 2 years.  He started his journey at Samaritans when he was just 16 years old. I remember hearing about it for the first time and not knowing exactly how to react. Instead, I decided to respect Eli's decision but paid close attention to his journey. I have known Eli since he was a little kid. He has always shown a tremendous amount of compassion for others and deep appreciation for the life we have.  In this episode, I invite Eli to chat with me about philosophy, therapy, music and volunteer: What does Eli think of "the inconsistency of an artist seen as the biggest criticism"?  Do we have a fixed identity?  How much do we really know about ourselves? Why does Eli believe that "myself is influx all the time."? Eli's advice as a teenager, for teenagers (a period of great uncertainty: adolescent

Nate Delong competed at the 2014 World Muay Thai Federation Championship on Team USA and took Gold Metal for the Pro AM (Pro/Amateur) Heavy Weight Division. Like many of us, Nate has a full time job. He is a producer at SapientNitro, an advertising agency based in Boston, MA. In this podcast, you will learn about how Nate was able to balance work and his passion to compete on the international stage.  Nate was introduced to me by Matt Lindley. Matt is my hero and a wonderful guest who appeared on a previous episode of the feisworld podcast.  If you have listened to some of my previous episodes, it is no secret that I'm a dedicated martial arts practitioner as well. The desire to interview someone like Nate is obvious. But why should you care, or how does this interview benefit you in anyway?  Ironically enough, much of the learning as a martial artist can apply to regular office job. Not the fight (of course) but strategies that help you improve your interpersonal skills, reading and understanding your client

George earned the title of Young Steinway Artist, appeared with Harvard’s prestigious River Charles Ensemble, performed at Carnegie Hall more than half a dozen times, as well as Steinway Hall that led one critic to proclaim “a rising star if ever there was one.”   In Part 2 of my interview with George, he talks about the business side of things. After founding 4 startups in just 1.5 years at Harvard, I figured that George must have a "secret set of skills", aha moments that contributed to his success. I was also surprised to find out that someone as young as George, already has a clear vision of where his journey is going to take him, and what he really hopes to accomplish. It is not as simple as just being a successful musician himself. It is rather a universal message that's going to change music and music education around the world.   During George's year off, he had the pleasure to conduct a youth orchestra in Orange County, California, where he's from. He quickly realized that it's not because pop music

George earned the title of Young Steinway Artist, appeared with Harvard’s prestigious River Charles Ensemble, the Carnegie Hall for more than half a dozen times, and Steinway Hall that led one critic to proclaim “a rising star if ever there was one.” With over 2,000 fans on Facebook, George continues his journey of spreading the word for classical music today. George had an unusual path to becoming a successful pianist. As a young boy, his mom refused to prescribe medication for his ADHD and instead invited a piano teacher to their home.  What's the purpose of playing music for George? He says that it's about creating an experience that reminds the audience of something important in their lives, or inspires in some way. They are not only enjoying music as entertainment but a piece of reflection. We also talked about being Chinese / Asian American. George believes: "It is our duty to show people our culture. Being part of this ethnic group is part of being American. America is a melting pot - we are a group of