Rad Awakenings with Khe Hy

RadReaders!!!! I’m excited to announce FWD: Thinking, Quartz at Work’s new podcast about bold individuals who have challenged the status quo to create meaningful careers. Most of us in the workforce have felt that itch, that yearning to do something different at one point or another. But then come the inevitable questions: What would I do? Do I have the skills? Is it risky? Learn the playbooks and strategies to drive your own career reinvention. Follow along over at instagram.com/radreadsco

Our first guest Tiago Forte returns to close out the first season of Rad Awakenings. Tiago's the founder of Forte Labs, an education company focused on productivity and learning. He believes that technology has fundamentally changed the way we work - as entrepreneurs or as knowledge workers. With new multi-billion dollar industries being created each year, there are countless opportunities to create new "lanes" of expertise and ultimately "product-ize" that knowledge. This is a pragmatic conversation where he breaks down how to identify these new pockets of opportunity, become a full-stack freelancer, and create a distributed digital company - all because sharing knowledge is one of life's greatest privileges. + SHOW NOTES: https://radreads.co/tiago-forte3/ + THIS WEEK’S SPONSOR: Does your life insurance policy match your life circumstances? Whether you’re newlyweds, new parents, or new entrepreneurs, Cambridge will work with you to protect what matters most: your family. As an independent broker, Cambridge always represents the client’s best interest, not the insurance companies’.  Contact Cambridge for a complimentary assessment on personal or life insurance planning. + SUBSCRIBE TO RADREADS: http://radreads.com/subscribe

April Rinne cannot be described with simple labels. She helps companies, policy makers, and non-profits navigate the new economy. She's a global citizen, having visited over 100 countries in her lifetime and a "career portfolioist." And while she works for herself, don't for a second think that this limits the scope of her work: she's a strategist, start-up advisor, and a World Economic Forum Young Leader who's unafraid to tackle thorny questions. April's life has been deeply influenced by her parents who died in a car accident when she was in her 20s. She lives their values of gratitude, adventure, and financial autonomy by constantly reinventing herself and her career and blazing her own trail each and every day. + SHOW NOTES: http://rad.family/april-rinne + SUBSCRIBE: http://rad.family/subscribe

Sergio Brown played high school basketball with Derrick Rose, was coached by Bill Belichick in the NFL, has two degrees, and has worked at Google. Despite barely playing football in high school, Sergio learned the ins and outs of the game at Norte Dame and ultimately joined the Patriots as an undrafted free agent. We discuss his 8 year career in the NFL, the glamor of game day, the physical toll on his body and the transitory life bouncing from team to team. And on current NFL issues, he shares his thoughts on kneeling during the anthem and if he'd let his future son play because of concussions. But an NFL career can only last so long, imagine the loss of identity when you go from being an NFL player to a former NFL player. So with his body pretty much intact, he started his next act, at Google. + SHOW NOTES: http://rad.family/sergio-brown + JOIN THE RAD COMMUNITY: http://rad.family/subscribe

Corporate jobs and Sarah Peck do not mesh well - being slouched in front of a laptop under fluorescent lighting isn't her idea of a career. Sarah's mantra has always been: You don't have to do things the way they're always done. To give herself career options, she started a blog as a side hustle and within 3 years it was generating $30k. That, in combination with a minimalist lifestyle gave her the confidence to quit. Her career is now “a collection of projects” - she's a writer, a startup advisor, yoga teacher and podcast host. She shares a DIY playbook to create, market, and sell digital products and her thoughts on credentialing and expertise in the digital age. We look at the work required to achieve diversity both in our networks and our ideas, and what her podcast, Startup Pregnant, can teach us about productivity, prioritization, and professional growth from bad ass new moms who are also entrepreneurs. + SHOW NOTES: http://rad.family/sarah-peck + JOIN THE RAD COMMUNITY: http://rad.family/subscribe

Scott Norton is your prototypical millennial - a tinkerer with a creative and entrepreneurial streak . There's a narrative that the financial crisis crushed economic mobility for an entire generation of Millennials - in fact, Scott's first job was at Lehman Brothers in 2008. Yet for Scott, the crisis catalyzed a trip around Asia on a foldable bike spanning 23 countries and 100 cities. Upon his return he co-founded Sir Kensington's, challenging the consumer goods "complex" of ketchup and mayonnaise. We explore mission-driven businesses - are they marketing hype or changing the world? Regardless, big business has taken to the idea; last year Unilever acquired them for a pretty penny. Scott's got the belt notches: he's a touch above 30 with a spectacular exit.  How does this change someone? For sure, it takes failure off the table. But contentment, being present with loved ones, a quiet mind, and yes - even freedom - don't appear overnight and can remain viscerally elusive. + THIS WEEK'S SPONSOR: Does your life insurance policy match your life circumstances? Whether you’re newlyweds, new parents, or new entrepreneurs, Cambridge will work with you to protect what matters most: your family. As an independent broker, Cambridge always represents the client’s best interest, not the insurance companies'.  Contact Cambridge for a complimentary assessment on personal or life insurance planning. + SHOW NOTES: http://rad.family/scott-norton + SUPPORT THE PODCAST: http://patreon.com/radreads

What can data tell us about our own humanity? Giorgia Lupi is an information designer, artist and author with a love for creatively representing all types of data. She's the co-founder of the design firm Accurat and few years ago, embarked on a small creative project with a friend. Every week they tracked a feeling, behavior, or event and then hand drew a postcard visualizing the observations. These post cards are delightful and were aggregated in a book called Dear Data and last year were acquired into MoMA's permanent collection. Yet, even with this milestone contentment felt so elusive. Dear Data revealed that tracking the “mundane details” of our lives has the unintended consequence of putting us more in touch with our thoughts; forcing us to hit “pause” on our frenetic lives. And at the end, Giorgia shares a simple way for all of us to set up a small data project on our own lives. + THIS WEEK'S SPONSOR: Does your life insurance policy match your life circumstances? Whether you’re newlyweds, new parents, or new entrepreneurs, Cambridge will work with you to protect what matters most: your family. As an independent broker, Cambridge always represents the client’s best interest, not the insurance companies'.  Contact Cambridge for a complimentary assessment on personal or life insurance planning. + SHOW NOTES: http://rad.family/giorgia-lupi + SUPPORT THE PODCAST: http://patreon.com/radreads

Chris Schumacher was a hard partying Californian who dealt weed to support his lifestyle. Then one day a suitcase of drugs disappeared - and his life was forever changed. In the mix of rage over the stolen drugs and fear of the consequences, Chris took a man's life and was sentenced to 16-to-life. Chris walked into "The Yard," navigated the gangs, racial tensions, and the unwritten rules all while knowing that as a “lifer” there's a good chance he was never getting out. Chris committed to taking responsibility, getting sober, and preparing himself, just in case, he was given a second chance. He got a college degree and joined a program from The Last Mile where he learned software engineering and developed the Fitness Monkey app. In 2017, after serving 17 years, a parole board granted him his freedom. We discuss his re-entry into society, how he explains his dating status on Tinder, what he'd tell naysayers who don't believe in second chances, and what he misses most about jail. + SHOWNOTES: http://rad.family/chris-schumacher + LOOKING FOR A COACH? Whether you need to get unstuck or are committed to self-exploration but don’t know how to begin, the Rad Family has got you covered. We’ve handpicked a group of talented coaches over at http://rad.family/coaching.

What's happening in our brains as we mindlessly scroll social media? Or worse, when we angrily retweet posts from our tribe. Molly Crockett is an assistant psychology professor at Yale University, where she integrates classic social psychology with neuroscience. She explains how our brain's reward system works and how this ties to digital moral outrage. Does outrage serve an evolutionary purpose? What are the social costs and incentives to the outraged individual? And what about the opposite, humble bragging and virtue signaling? Molly also shares how she applies her insights to lead a more focused and productive life. + SHOWNOTES: http://rad.family/molly-crockett + LOOKING FOR A COACH? Whether you need to get unstuck or are committed to self-exploration but don’t know how to begin, the Rad Family has got you covered. We’ve handpicked a group of talented coaches over at http://rad.family/coaching.

Adam Schwartz is the co-founder and COO of TeePublic an e-commerce platform for independent creators. TeePublic is a high growth company with 50+ employees yet is completely self-funded. Is it a lifestyle business? We explore the negative connotation of the term and how it translates into constraints, profitability, and the "life" part of lifestyle. One thing's for sure, irrespective of the name, entrepreneurs have very little mindspace for anything but their companies. And therein lies some of Adam's anxiety around becoming a new father. How does one make room for a new person, when life and work are already all consuming? And consistent with the RadReads ethos, it comes down to the repeated topics of time scarcity, financial security, achievement and how this all ties into our sense of self worth. + SHOWNOTES: http://rad.family/adam-schwartz + LOOKING FOR A COACH? Whether you need to get unstuck or are committed to self-exploration but don’t know how to begin, the Rad Family has got you covered. We’ve handpicked a group of talented coaches over at http://rad.family/coaching.

Liz Flock is a reporter for the PBS NewsHour and the author of The Heart is a Shifting Sea: Love and Marriage in Mumbai. Liz showed up in Mumbai at the age of 21, with no friends, no job, and $100 in her pocket. The story follows three couples in Mumbai where globalization and a growing middle class are budding up against traditions of caste and religion, pitting a newfound sense of agency for many Indian women against a longstanding patriarchal system. These couples as they navigate issues such as mental health, infidelity, divorce, and even the proliferation of pornography. For Westerners, it's an opportunity to contemplate our hyper-individualistic natures and the pursuit of happiness as a cingular goal. Liz and I have a broader discussion around love: Is a couple's natural tendency a drift apart or a pull towards one another? Do we have a mismatch between our expectations and reality? And what lessons can we take from Liz's eight year study on marriage? + SHOWNOTES: http://rad.family/liz-flock + LOOKING FOR A COACH? Whether you need to get unstuck or are committed to self-exploration but don’t know how to begin, the Rad Family has got you covered. We’ve handpicked a group of talented coaches over at http://rad.family/coaching.

The Wall Street Journal called Tiffany Zhong Venture Capital's Teenage Analyst.  At 21, she's worked at Product Hunt, sourced consumer investments, and is the founder of Zebra Intelligence, a consulting firm for brands trying to understand Gen Z. Her journey starts on Twitter where as a teenager she engaged prominent VCs and tech founders, asking them about their businesses and sharing her views on apps and products. Tiffany gives us both a networking and Twitter 101 as she shares the importance of (digital) emotional intelligence, leading with the question “how can I be helpful” and how, irrespective of your age, everyone has at least one thing they can bring to a conversation: Perspective. Tiffany dropped out of Berkeley after a year and we discuss different learning methods, the importance of college, and how she feels about the lack of a safety net in a degree. Tiffany discusses college students and teens - the "side hustle generation," deft at building e-commerce companies and leveraging their social followings to make money. We also discuss the Gen Z stereotypes of attention, entitlement, and anxiety - and how Gen X'ers should not call Lil Pump, Little Pump. + SHOWNOTES: http://rad.family/tiffany-zhong/ + LOOKING FOR A COACH? Whether you need to get unstuck or are committed to self-exploration but don’t know how to begin, the Rad Family has got you covered. We’ve handpicked a group of talented coaches over at http://rad.family/coaching.

Dan Sevigny was sensitive kid who had learning difficulties and trouble connecting with his peers. He coped by cutting himself and started using alcohol and pills as a teenager. Which kicked off a 10+ year cycle where drug use, aggression, and petty crime would get him kicked out of school and then sent to rehab. The cycle became more destructive, the aggression turned more violent, the rehab leading to juvie and jail. Dan describes the feedback loops of addiction and how depression made him feel like he was "on fire, with no skin and with everything in his body hurting." Dan makes it extremely clear that there's no silver bullet to recovery, but help came in the form of a mentor, learning about Search Engine Marketing while in rehab, and numerous therapists, particularly around DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy). And through all of this, Dan honors his family, his mom and sisters in particular and he surprised me by how often he brings up his own privilege. + SHOWNOTES: http://rad.family/dan-sevigny/ + LOOKING FOR A COACH? Whether you need to get unstuck or are committed to uncomfortable introspection but don't know how to begin, the #radfam has got you covered. We've handpicked a group of talented coaches over at http://rad.family/coaching.

Mihir Desai is here to demystify and rehabilitate finance. He's an economics professor at both Harvard Business and Law School and author of The Wisdom of Finance where he uses uses stories from the George Orwell to Kanye West to explain concepts such as options, leverage, and herd behavior, then extrapolating them into broader life lessons. For example blindly following society's expectations is a form of the principal-agent problem. And how professionals love “collecting options,” but forget that for options to work, you need to take risks. We cover Wall Street's culture of fear, his "a-hole theory of finance," and the industry's lack of diversity. We talk more broadly about higher education's "crisis moment" and if credentialing is important in the face of technological innovation (such as cryptocurrencies and social), and why the "free-agent economy" is overhyped. + SHOW NOTES: http://bit.ly/MihirDesai + JOIN OUR NETWORKING WEBINAR: Networking doesn't have to be transactional or slimy - it can absolutely be achieved with kindness and generosity. Learn now to identify new relationships, have impactful conversations, and create a system for following up. http://bit.ly/radnetworking + SUBSCRIBE TO RADREADS: http://radreads.email

Lindsay Beck was an outdoorsy 22 year old who had just run a marathon when she was diagnosed with tongue cancer. The typical procedure: removing your tongue and communicating via whiteboard for the rest of your life. But at 22? With a life ahead of her and dreams of finding love and starting a family? Furthermore, chemotherapy (not just for tongue cancer) had a 90% sterilization rate - a fact doctors withheld from their patients and then obviously insurance wouldn't cover egg freezing. During her recovery, Lindsay started the non-profit Fertile Hope to fix both of these flaws. Her goal was for Fertile Hope to cease to exist in 10 years... and it took nine. For her second act, she co-founded NPX Advisors to change the way non-profits are funded, adding transparency and accountability while creating a new security, the Impact Security. Oh, and she and her husband have four young kids, and we discuss prioritization, saying no, and what "family first" means. LOOKING FOR A COACH? Need to get unstuck? Ready to take a risk? Or are you committed to self-inquiry but don’t know how to begin? Look no further than the #RadFam. We’ve curated a group of talented coaches over at bit.ly/radcoaching.

Eugene Wei's career cannot be described succinctly or linearly. He worked as an analyst at Amazon in the late 90s, went to film school, worked as a product manager at startups including Hulu and Flipboard and most recently was head of video for Facebook's Oculus VR. Eugene always "seeks to be a novice" and eschews traditional "career rules." I was drawn to Eugene's blog by his grasp of the written word and the fluidity of his interests, ranging from tech, sports, culture, psychology, media, and storytelling. We talk a lot about reading, writing and communicating - why it's important for product managers to read fiction and how great leaders create leverage through compression - tiny, repeatable and memorable messages. We also discuss what makes Jeff Bezos a unique leader, how to use data to become an “expert” and what he's learned by studying high performance athletes. LOOKING FOR A COACH? Need to get unstuck? Ready to take a risk? Or are you committed to self-inquiry but don’t know how to begin? Look no further than the #RadFam. We’ve curated a group of talented coaches over at bit.ly/radcoaching.

In the months after the 2016 election, 16,000 women contacted the non-profit Emily's List to learn about running for office, compared to 1,000 the entire prior year. Alessandra Biaggi is one of these new faces in politics. As a young girl she declared at the dinner table that she wanted to be president. She went on to law school, worked as a lawyer for state of NY and then as Deputy National Operations Director for Hillary Clinton's campaign. After the election, she turned despair into action when she realized that in her own backyard, there was a group of senators who were Democrats on paper, yet caucused with Republicans on issues such as immigration and women's rights. She's running a grassroots campaign against a fourteen year incumbent and “kingpin” of NY State politics. We discuss the impostor syndrome that comes with this high-stakes race, speaking up against injustice, coddling kids versus letting them fail, and her advice for center of left men who are all for equality, but fear that the #MeToo movement happening too quickly. LOOKING FOR A COACH? Whether you need to get unstuck or are committed to self-exporlation but don’t know how to begin, the Rad Family has got you covered. We’ve handpicked a group of talented coaches over at bit.ly/radcoaching.

My happy place is interviewing a high energy meditator who curses like a sailor. Jeff Warren is a meditation teacher and the co-author of Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics (alongside Good Morning America's Dan Harris). We talk a lot about mental health and Jeff's longtime struggle with ADD, which to this day impacts his sense of acceptance and belonging. This conversation is nothing like what you'd expect from two meditators - it's high energy, very personal, and pragmatic. We cover the daunting long game (i.e. lifetime) of meditation, how the stories around us can shape our reality (à la Sapiens), and how meditation is one of those small habits that unquestionably improves our happiness AND stops the endless and draining mental chatter. LOOKING FOR A COACH? Whether you need to get unstuck or are committed to uncomfortable introspection but don't know how to begin, the #radfam has got you covered. We've handpicked a group of talented coaches over at http://rad.family/coaching.

Abby Raphel is the founder of the Redwoods Initiative, an investment education company for wealthy families and the creator of the Blank Canvas Method for self-discovery. Abby grew up in a two stoplight town rural Florida, where she raised hogs and swam competitively, and was exposed to leadership at a young age when she joined the Future Farmers of America. She started modeling in college and moved to New York with two bags and two phone numbers. But as a "broke and B-rate model," she went on to teach young girls about self-esteem then founded Redwoods, where she helps the uber-wealthy navigate their money. And yes, just because you have money, it does not guarantee fulfillment and meaning. We also discuss self-improvement and privilege, the role of hyper-agents in effectuating change, and confronting your shadow. WANT TO LEARN TO BLOG? Join us for a free, Rad webinar on the basics of blogging. Learn directly from Khe Hy about how to get started, what platforms to use, and how to share your writing on social media. Sign up at bit.ly/radblog

Here's a controversial statement: contemplating your mortality will make you happier.  Frank Ostaseski is a pioneer in end of life care and holds this to be true. Frank co-founded the Zen Hospice Project, the Metta Institute, and is the author of The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully.  Those who repress their fear of death, are missing what it can teach us. The anxieties we often discuss on this podcast, identity, acceptance, self-judgement, and loving unconditionally are all impacted by our views on death. And at the end of life, everything gets distilled into two simple questions: 'Am I loved?' and 'Did I love well?' SPONSORED BY IEX: Interested in joining a growing company at the intersection of finance and technology? IEX's mission is to build fair markets and they've created a next generation stock exchange. The company currently has thirteen open positions in development, listings, compliance, and for its 2018 summer intern program. Visit http://iextrading.com/careers

Lisa Daron Grossman landed in Swaziland as a 22 year old Peace Corps volunteer. The country had the world's highest incidence of HIV and lowest life expectancy. Her team's mission: mitigate the impact of the HIV epidemic. She was surrounded by loss and grieving - in her own words "It literally me open, like a sledgehammer to my chest." Yet she was also surrounded by love, family, and community. She returned to the US with unprocessed trauma, depression and illness and living a dual life of odd jobs that eventually led her to the world of coaching. Today, she's launching a cross-country project called the Connection Cure, trekking around the US looking to reinstill our lost sense of community and belonging. SPONSORED BY IEX: Interested in joining a growing company at the intersection of finance and technology? IEX's mission is to build fair markets and they've created a next generation stock exchange. The company currently has thirteen open positions in development, listings, compliance, and for its 2018 summer intern program. Visit http://iextrading.com/careers

Anthony Demby the founder of HumbleRIOT an audible idea shop that sits at the intersection of artists, culture, brands and experiences. Prior to founding HumbleRIOT, Anthony cut his teeth in the music industry with a range of roles in A&R, publicity and artist management. He has worked with artists such as Quadron, John Legend, and Childish Gambino. We discuss hitting financial rock bottom as an entrepreneur (i.e. an ATM balance of $0), expanding the conversation around race and police violence, the lack of diversity in the wellness industry, his eight year meditation practice, and Donald Glover's "student of life mindset." + A RAD FAVOR: Help us improve, by filling out this 4 minute listener survey. bit.ly/goradsurvey + SHOW NOTES: bit.ly/RadAwakenings  

There's the cliché of leaving Wall Street to become a Yoga instructor. And then there's actually doing it. As a young salesperson at Morgan Stanley, Lauren Imparato put her entrepreneurial prowess on display winning over both clients and bosses. Initially, Lauren immersed herself in yoga, nutrition, and meditation to help manage the daily grind - hiding it from her colleagues to avoid the "weirdo hippy girl" look. But the push to start her own business eventually overtook her and she went on to create RETOX, a wellness brand, Yoga studio, and best-selling book. We discuss mixing business and passion, using social media to build a brand, and the dangers of entrepreneurship as a form of escapism. + Full Shownotes: bit.ly/RadAwakenings + Join the RAD community: http://RadReads.email

Thomas Page McBee is an author and journalist who writes about masculinity, and gender more broadly. Because Thomas is also trans, I entered the conversation with a preconceived set of beliefs, mostly based on the popular narratives I'd seen in media about trans people. Thomas and I discuss where his story and reporting diverged from those narratives, and he helped me understand that gender is complicated for all of us. Thomas has a unique and informed perspective on issues many men struggle with, including emotional detachment, gender policing, shame, and violence. This episode is brought to you by Omnifocus.guru, a free seminar to redesign your workflow from scratch. Sign up: http://omnifocus.guru + Pre-Order Amateur: A True Story of What Makes a Man + Full Shownotes: bit.ly/RadAwakenings + Join the RAD community: http://RadReads.email

At age 22, Mike Lewis had his dream job as a young venture capitalist at Bain Capital Ventures, moving up the ranks all while having fun and learning. But there was a little nagging voice reminding him of a dream - to play squash on the pro tour, even if it meant couch surfing and eating into his savings to do so. Mike did it, peaked at 112 and went on to write When to Jump: If the job you have isn't the life you want. We're bombarded by sexy stories about people who made the jump, but this obfuscates the planning, safety nets, and ways in which you can practice your own "jump." This week's sponsor: Looking to elevate your workflow? Join host Khe Hy for a free class on the GTD methodology and how to use the productivity app Omnifocus at http://omnifocus.guru . Mike Lewis and the When to Jump Community Buy When to Jump: If the job you have isn’t the life you want on Amazon Join the WhenToJump.com community and listen to the Podcast Follow When to Jump on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram

Here's part II of my chat with Philip Simon. To recap, as a child Philip played hooky from school to read in the library, graduated high school and lived in a cave (as he pursued monkhood), and taught himself markets and finance by reading every single word of the FT and the Economist for four straight years. We pick up part II with Philip's corporate development role at a high frequency trading firm. We discuss “dual consciousness” or bringing two different versions of yourself to work and if it's a luxury to break out of that paradigm; the "duty of the strong to protect the weak" and how that interacts with the concepts of self-reliance and privilege; and alternatives to the broken model of growth capital/capitalism, such as mutualization, B-corps, or mission-driven companies. + SHOW NOTES: bit.ly/radpod28 + JOIN THE COMMUNITY: http://radreads.email

Philip Simon is the "Rad Genius." His life and career have bucked convention and traditional narratives, and are the consequence of a ravenous curiosity and thirst for knowledge. Philip's story starts in the library, where as a kid he would read multiple books a day (an estimated 1,500 by the time he graduated). After graduating, he dabbled in the Marines, moved to a cave in Greece to pursue a life of asceticism (i.e. severe self-discipline and abstention from all forms of indulgence) and restored ancient fresco paintings. He taught himself financial markets by reading “every single word” of the Financial Times and Economist for four straight years, which led him into cold calling for stock brokers, an Internet startup (the Ladders) and the world of high frequency trading (GTS). + SHOW NOTES: bit.ly/radpod28 + JOIN THE COMMUNITY: radreads.email

Venkatesh Rao defies labels - he's a blogger, thinker, consultant whose ideas span the digital economy, science, philosophy, and the zeitgeist. Rao is the creator of Ribbonfarm and Breaking Smart and we discuss “paycheck addictions” and the wave of transformation that's going to hit the economy. Is becoming a free-agent a way to stay ahead of the curve? How should a mid-career executive prepare? An immersion in the technology conversation is a must - but so is the ability to emotionally self-regulate. + SHOW NOTES: bit.ly/radpod27 + JOIN THE COMMUNITY: radreads.email

Today's episode should be called mindfulness for hyper-driven skeptics with no time. Holly Rogers is a psychiatrist at the student counseling center at Duke University and the co-founder of the center for Koru Mindfulness. Holly's training as a psychiatrist provides a repertoire of research for the benefits of mindfulness, such as improving cardiovascular health, building a tolerance for discomfort, and my personal favorite: noticing tiny pain points with clarity and making adjustments that compound over time. We also discuss the “lowest effective dose" (10 minutes for 4 weeks), why today's college students are way more anxious than in the past, and why mid-life crisis seem to be starting earlier. + SHOW NOTES: bit.ly/radpod26 + JOIN THE COMMUNITY: http://radreads.email + SUPPORT THE PODCAST: patreon.com/radreads  

Let's talk Hedge Funds! Ted Seides is a long time hedge fund investor and the host of the Capital Allocators Podcast. He's a kindred spirit and we overlapped during the go-go days of the hedge fund industry. While this industry has some of the smartest and hardest working individuals, it's also got some perverse incentives, outright greed, and is a breeding ground for the Three Es (Ego, Envy, Entitlement - all of which I experienced). The industry is undergoing tremendous change and we discuss sussing out internally motivated individuals, the keys to growing wealth, and how money makes you more... of what you already are. + SHOW NOTES: bit.ly/radpod25 + JOIN THE RAD COMMUNITY: http://radreads.email + SUPPORT THE POD: patreon.com/radreads

Maya Benattar is a psychotherapist and music therapist. She gives us a lay of the land of therapy and how it differs from life coaching. We talk cultural stigmas, different approaches such as CBT or psycho dynamics, and the difference between Trauma with a "big T" and a "little t." Most of us have experienced (little t) trauma in the form of bullying, otherness, and insecurities such as body image. We explore the myth of being emotionally self-sufficient, Maya's work in helping clients hold dual perspectives, picking podcasts over music, and navigating the emotional side of Tinder. + SHOW NOTES: bit.ly/radpod24 + JOIN THE RADREADS COMMUNITY: radreads.email

Andrew Taggart is a practical philosopher who works with executives and entrepreneurs. He challenges them to investigate life's basic assumptions, even if it's uncomfortable. We discuss high performers' antagonistic relationship with time and their desire to turn life into a series of problems which can be solved - and how this can mask our confounding relationship with mortality. Instead of avoiding these question, we consider how "an examined life, is a life lived more fully." + SHOW NOTES: bit.ly/radpod23 + SUBSCRIBE: http://radreads.email + SUPPORT: patreon.com/radreads  

I often get listener pushback when we discuss happiness and introspection - this skepticism comes from the fact that the learnings aren't grounded in data and they lack the pragmatism and relevance to our daily jobs. Today's guest, Caroline Webb bridges that gap. She's a former McKinsey partner, leadership coach, and economist and is used to C-Suiters pushing back on topics that are too "woo-woo." She's the founder of SevenShift, where she uses insights from behavioral science to help executives improve their working life. We discuss humans' natural tendency to scan our environments for threats and how this impacts our brains. Are these threats real? How do we stop negative thought spirals? Is technology a source of threats? And a reader favorite, is fear a good motivator? + SHOW NOTES: bit.ly/radpod22 + JOIN OUR COMMUNITY: bit.ly/RadReads

Auren Hoffman is a serial entrepreneur and investor in over 75 tech companies. He’s the CEO and Chief Historian of SafeGraph and co-founder and former CEO of LiveRamp. This is a conversation about thinking, reasoning, and cultivating self-awareness. We discuss: default options (such as going to college or buying a house) and the need to reaffirm these on a regular basis; combatting status-seeking behavior; the challenging skill of holding two opposing views at once; how being "cool" or a social outcast impacts entrepreneurship; and why when it comes to work-life balance, Auren thinks we should recruit “proud members of the anti-balance society.” + FULL SHOW NOTES: bit.ly/radpod21 + SUPPORT THE PODCAST: patreon.com/radreads    

Jocelyn K. Glei lives at intersection of the creative process, self management, and the future of work. She's a creative polymath who's held editorial positions, written a book on email, and just launched the podcast Hurry Slowly. Tactically, we chat about how people with corporate jobs can "flex their creative muscles" and why inbox zero is so damaging. Theoretically, we debate the subjective nature of time, how productivity requires a deeper conversation on achievement, and how the best things in life are imperfect and thus cannot be optimized.

Have you ever wondered how a single moment can change everything? Venetia Pristavec is an observer and storyteller. She happened to take a picture of a mattress on her floor and then rented it out to a stranger on the Internet. She then became convinced of the power of small human interactions and went on to join that small company, Airbnb, as their 7th employee. She rode that rocket ship for 5 years yet realized that while she was the voice of the company, she didn't know her own voice. We have a really deep conversation, covering her thyroid cancer, turning into (as opposed to away from) others' suffering, and why Venetia asks people pleasers about their "relationship with anger." + SHOW NOTES: bit.ly/radpod19 + BUILDING A SECOND BRAIN: Is your digital information causing creative paralysis? Redesign your workflow from first principles with Tiago Forte's Nov. 6 class at bit.ly/radbrain (affiliate link)

We've all been in that meeting during which leadership says they're ready for change. Yet deep inside, you know that it's the classic Innovator's Dilemma and you'll be sitting in that same meeting for the next 10 years. In this episode, I interview Kevin Delaney, co-founder and editor in chief of Quartz about building a company in a time of flux for the media industry and challenging many of the established norms. We discuss how his leadership philosophy has evolved, what to do when your "staff is under siege" (from deep-pocketed competitors), the differences between Gen Z/Millennials/Gen X, and the practice of writing letters to our children that they'll read at a much later date. + SHOW NOTES: bit.ly/radpod18

Tiago Forte is our resident productivity guru and he interviews me in Part 2 of our workflow series. We nerd out on our productivity toolkits and blockages and I dive into my passion around human connection - and the systems I use to accelerate serendipity and build community.   + SPONSOR: Join Skillshare the online learning community with 17,000+ classes in business, design and more. Get one free month of unlimited access. http://skillshare.com/rad + SIGN UP FOR TIAGO'S CLASS: bit.ly/radbrain + SHOW NOTES: bit.ly/radpod17

Tiago Forte is our resident productivity and workflow guru and the founder of Forte Labs. This is part 1 (of our 2 part series) in which we geek out on our First Principles (i.e. building blocks) of workflow, productivity, and personal knowledge management. Tiago approaches these questions through the lens of design thinking and also reflects on some of the blind spots in his system. + SPONSOR: Join Skillshare the online learning community with 17,000+ classes in business, design and more. Get one free month of unlimited access. http://skillshare.com/rad + SIGN UP FOR TIAGO'S CLASS: bit.ly/radbrain + SHOW NOTES: bit.ly/radpod17

Bart Lorang is the founder and CEO of FullContact. FullContact is a high-growth, venture-backed company (having raised $50 mm) with 250 employees and multiple offices across the world. Bart and I discuss work-life balance and how Bart balances self-care, spending time with two young kids, while being a devoted father/husband. Bart drops amazing CEO wisdom on how empathy can be learned, thwarting your team’s fight or flight reflex and how culture is meaningless if it doesn’t terrify people. + SPONSOR: Join Skillshare the online learning community with 16,000+ classes in business, design and more. Get one free month of unlimited access. http://skillshare.com/rad + SHOW NOTES: bit.ly/radpod16 + SHOW SOME LUV: patreon.com/radreads  

Mark Pollard is a straight up OG: he created Australia’s first Hip Hop zine and designed web sites during the early days of Web 1.0. Mark is the founder of Mighty Jungle, where he helps founders make their brands make sense — through brand strategy and mental workouts. Mark's fiercely analytical and left-brained, but also “rebelliously creative” with a strong understanding of human biases. In this episode we reminisce about the 90s, chat about the chaos of his teenage years, which really influenced how he thinks about masculinity and its toxic elements. Mark’s got a phrase: “We know men through their deeds and ideas” which launches us into the challenge of separating achievement and identity. And finally, Mark shares the Mighty Jungle playbook, conducting a master class in storytelling, ideation, and writing. And for those building a personal brand, heed his advice on cliched buzzwords such as joy and empowered. SHOW NOTES: bit.ly/radpod14 SUBSCRIBE: bit.ly/RadReads MORE ON MARK + Mighty Jungle Website + Mark’s Blog: Life. Then Strategy. + Social Media: Instagram / Twitter / LinkedIn

Today's guest, Cara Thomas, dared me to buy a coffee for the person in line behind me. I was terrified of the awkwardness and possible rejection - yet once I did it, felt truly alive. Cara created Serenflipity to spark that feeling in each of us after a seven year career as an innovation consultant. The simple flip of a card throws you into wonder and serendipity, feelings that often vanish as we "grow up." Cara's journey into entrepreneurship has (literally) taken her around the world and in this episode we discuss the importance of experiencing both positive and negative emotions, how the body breaks down when the mind breaks down, and why entrepreneurship is not for the faint-hearted. Skillshare is this week's sponsor: Join the online learning community with 16,000+ classes in business, design and more. Get one free month of unlimited access. http://skillshare.com/rad Show Notes: bit.ly/radpod13 Subscribe to RadReads: bit.ly/RadReads

Richard Hughes-Jones did it. After 10 years as a management consultant, he took the plunge to start his own practice - fueled in part by his love for backcountry skiing. Then on a routine check up, his doctor states “That's not supposed to be there.” Stage 3 Colorectal cancer. It's the news we all dread - what happens next? Do you take the Anti-Fragile approach of “that which does not kill me only makes me stronger” or the Buddhist approach of "relinquishing control." How do you deal with experts (i.e. doctors) and is information your ally in the battle? And do you ever get “closure?” Richard is a kind, open, and warm spirit. We talk mortality, second-guessing your prior lifestyle, decision-making, his 26 line item sneaker collection, and making it back to the mountains he loves. Skillshare is this week's sponsor: Join the online learning community with 16,000+ classes in business, design and more. Get one free month of unlimited access. http://skillshare.com/rad Show Notes: bit.ly/radpod12 Subscribe to RadReads: bit.ly/RadReads

Imagine building a business with a heart, with the person who shares your heart. Scot and Jacq Tatelman are the founders of State Bags, a mission-driven company building on the 1-for-1 model for school kids in need. Why backpacks? Because they "represent where you've been and where you're going." Their bags are *fire* and they've partnered with Chance the Rapper, Beyonce, Kevin Durant and the White House. The love, admiration, and pride they have for one another is truly energizing (note the episode's "happy tears"). But they're honest about the challenges of co-founding and co-parenting: how pre-emptive couples therapy helped realign their roles, creating boundaries with their two energetic young kids, and how the heck you achieve work-life balance when Beyonce's peeps are calling while Jacq's in labor. (tl;dr You don't!) FULL SHOW NOTES: bit.ly/radpod11 JOIN THE COMMUNITY: bit.ly/RadReads

Imagine getting a $3.6 million bonus at age 30? The dream scenario, right? This episode's guest, Sam Polk made more money in that a single bonus than his parents had earned over their entire lives. Yet he still needed to repeat the mantra "I am Enough" to reaffirm his own self-worth. Sam was a senior trader at King Street, one of the most successful hedge funds in the world. But behind his rocket-ship trajectory was a story of rage, addiction, arrests, and loneliness - the result of a strained relationship with his parents, especially his dad. Sam began his healing through regular therapy beginning at age 22 (over 400 sessions) to which he attributes some of his Wall Street success. Today, he's a social entrepreneur and founder of Everytable, a mission-driven company delivering healthy meals affordable to everyone. Sam is truly an open book and we discuss masculinity, "the Number," what he'd tell his 20 year old self, fatherhood, and how to forgive. This Week's Sponsor: Skillshare Join the online learning community with 16,000+ classes in business, design and more. Get one free month of unlimited access. http://skillshare.com/rad Full Show Notes: bit.ly/radpod10_ Email Newsletter: bit.ly/RadReads

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, college grad or retired Goldman partner, you’ve probably experienced some form money anxiety. For a tiny piece of paper, money possesses this incredible power to trigger intense feelings such as FOMO, envy, inadequacy and outright fear (aka the poverty mindset). And it never ceases to amaze me how rational people (and many finance professionals) turn a complete blind eye to this important area of their lives. Today’s guest, Ashley Feinstein Gerstley coaches people (like me) out of their own money madness. Ashley’s a coach and creator of the Fiscal Femme blog. But our listeners will relate to her story: she started as an Investment banker and grew the Fiscal Femme as side hustle until finally jumping off into entrepreneurship. Her advice is particularly spicy for entrepreneurs, and we discuss how much runway is enough, “death by a thousand small withdrawals” (my personal favorite), the dangerous belief that we can out-earn our expenses, and how avoiding the topic is really avoiding accountability. FULL SHOW NOTES bit.ly/radpod9 SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER bit.ly/RadReads

This week’s episode is a story of career agility, embracing change, and living with intention. Lisa Shalett is a former Goldman Sachs partner, now board director and startup investor/advisor. At Goldman, Lisa held numerous leadership roles, including Japanese Equities, Global Compliance and Brand Marketing/Digital Strategy. She shares with us her approach to these transitions or “reinventions:” the danger of viewing your skills in narrow contexts (such as your current job); controlling your narrative as you change roles; or simply, asking your boss “What’s keeping you up at night?” We then discuss post-retirement life, driven in part by family considerations. Yet retirement isn’t as worry free as we perceive it to be, especially when identity and career are so intertwined. One must navigate FOMO, the (perceived) loss of relevance, maintaining one’s “edge,” and yes — even for retired Goldman partners — the emotional irrationality of negative cash flow burn arising from entrepreneurship. And her advice to those currently in the grind, make sure you carve out the space to call “time out” — so that a minimum you can reflect on the trifecta of life, family, and career. Full Show Notes: http://bit.ly/radpod8 E-mail Newsletter: http://bit.ly/RadReads

What is a life coach? What does life coaching consist of? Does it work? In this episode, we'll meet my coach, Kate Bednarski, one of the most impactful people in my life. I’ve asked Kate to throw out all patient confidentiality constraints and crack open all of her notes from our two years of working together. We start with our first meeting, where I showed up “jacked up on caffeine” a 34 year old guy rife with many tensions. I had a messed up relationship with time - there was never enough, yet I wanted to accomplish so much that it was affecting my marriage and relationship with my daughter. I was also in the midst of a successful career in hedge funds, yet my “money madness” as Kate calls it made me constantly second guess myself, as I was anchored to the belief that things couldn’t be savored without delayed gratification and that it was a proxy for success. At the end, as many of our listeners will know, most of these anxieties emanated from a deep rooted fear of my own mortality. Kate coaches many hard-charging high achievers, many of whom reach inflection points in their career and find themselves asking “Is this all there is? Full Show Notes: http://bit.ly/radpod7 Kate's Website: http://www.5steppingstones.com/

And by liabilities, we mean "Angelina Jolie lips." I'm not kidding, I never thought I'd open a podcast by asking another guy about his lips. And that's only one of many similarities I share with this week's guest, Srini Rao, the CEO of Unmistakable Media. Srini and I also had “non-existent” dating lives which led to a deep-rooted fear of never falling in love and spending life alone. Today, at 39 - a self-proclaimed "late bloomer" Srini is still searching for that special person with whom he can grow a family of mini-surfers - but also knows that being alone is infinitely better than being with the wrong person. Srini's had a remarkable professional journey, he's the failed byproduct of the “traditional model of education and work” and graduated into two recessions, the dot-com bust (undergrad) and the global financial crisis (MBA). Now, as the founder and CEO of Unmistakeable Media, he's conducted over 700 podcast interviews, organized massive events, and is a published author of Unmistakable: Why Only Is Better Than Best. This is a wide-ranging conversation covering why men struggle to be vulnerable, if "follow your passion" is good advice, how to quiet the comparing mind, and the ingredients to finding flow at work: autonomy, purpose, and mastery. Show notes: bit.ly/radpod6 Unmistakable Creative Podcast: https://unmistakablecreative.com/podcast Finish What You Start Course: https://unmistakablecreative.com/finish Srini's Book: http://a.co/fH1t2TL

Anastasia was destined to be an options trader since she was a little kid: she loved finishing at the top of the leader board during elementary school games and came up with her own brute-force approach multiplication tables. She then had her first shift, joining McKinsey and 18 months later found herself at a crossroads: Get her MBA or commit the money she would’ve spent and start building stuff. She chose the latter — “The business school of the world” as she calls it. Her thinking is crystal clear — on Love/dating/and relationships, the difference between aggressive and assertive, managing cash flow burn, and how much of our identity, for better or worse, is buried in the question “What do you do?”

Fred Ehrsam is an "OG" in the crypto world. But we barely talk crypto - instead, we talk about his journey. Fred joined Goldman as an FX Trader because it was “the cool kids” job, only to find an industry suffering from the classic Innovator’s Dilemma  — one focused on extracting rents, instead of innovation. Fred’s such a crisp and honest thinker and we discuss chasing objective achievement to define self-worth, the power of executive coaching (“I thought it as armchair therapy for the weak”), the naïve algorithm of life (“getting stuck at local maximums of happiness”), and how we humans are wired to be pleasure seeking, pain avoidant.