Extraordinary conversations with extraordinary people. Do you enjoy learning new things? Are you interested in hearing from successful people? Join me in my journey to seek out and have conversations with the most inspiring and interesting influencers, entrepreneurs, professionals, academics, and industry leaders to satisfy your curiosity about the world we live in.
Cole is a 17-year-old High School Student from Long Island, New York with a strong passion for entrepreneurship, sports media, graphic design, and content creation. After running his own platform for 7 years, Cole realized that passionate young sports minds — just like himself — were struggling to create their own quality content, and build a solid following on their own. This prompted Cole to start Phenom, giving those kids the special opportunity to work towards building a bigger collaborative platform and focus on creating quality content rather than worrying about their follower count. Phenom Media Cole Nevins Man City win EPL The European Super League ---------------------------- Connect with Simon Don't forget to rate and review Simon Says!
Today's guest is Apoorva Chintala, an Economics and Management Information Systems student at the University of Texas at Austin. In 2017, she co-founded Clocr, an estate planning and disbursement platform that's simplifying the process of securing online accounts and digital assets for the next generation. As always, if you have questions, suggestions, or feedback about Simon Says, you can email me, Simon, at sbwang17@gmail.com. Apoorva Chintala on LinkedIn More about Clocr Create An Account With Clocr! RUFADAA Capital One Data Breach - March 2019
Abby is the CEO and iOS Developer of Magnify Wellness, a first-year student at Western Washington University, a distinguished public speaker, and a passionate computer programmer. As always, feel free to send me an email at sbwang17@gmail.com with questions or feedback on the podcast. Here are some important links from today's episode: Abby on LinkedIn Magnify Wellness Download Magnify Wellness on iOS Abigayle Peterson Bio
Aman Rizvi is the Co-Founder and CEO of Seecking, a recruiting platform looking to change the landscape of the hiring process by emphasizing community and transparency in order to increase diversity and inclusivity within the workforce. In today's episode, Aman and I spoke about the core mission of Seecking, differentiating them from their competitors and reflecting on how Aman's own experiences motivated him to strive for change, as well as the upsides to gaming and problems within the American education system. If you ever need to get in touch with me - shoot an email to sbwang17@gmail.com and I'll get back to you within 24 hours. Aman Rizvi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aman-rizvi-2a77b6169/ Seecking's Website: https://seecking.com/ The Value of a College Degree: https://www.northeastern.edu/bachelors-completion/news/average-salary-by-education-level/# Rising College Costs: https://blog.prepscholar.com/rising-cost-of-college
Sanketh is currently a student at the University of Maryland where he is pursuing degrees in Neuroeconomics and Neurobiology/Physiology as well as minors in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. He is also the co-founder of Vitalize, a wellness app designed specifically to reduce stress and burnout in healthcare professionals, and the founder of STEPS, a nonprofit focused on improving STEM education in low-income communities. Outside of his two startups, Sanketh is involved on campus as a research assistant with the University of Maryland School of Medicine, a venture fellow with EVCA, a research intern with NeuroEconSolutions, and a staff writer at The Decision Lab. Sanketh's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanketh-andhavarapu/ Nudge by Robert Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein: https://www.amazon.com/Nudge-Improving-Decisions-Health-Happiness/dp/014311526X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=nudge&qid=1616949109&sr=8-1 Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman: https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Fast-Slow-Daniel-Kahneman/dp/0374533555/ref=sr_1_2?crid=34VP1JMDKAW2S&dchild=1&keywords=thinking+fast+and+slow&qid=1616949129&sprefix=thinking+%2Caps%2C177&sr=8-2 Do Nothing by J. Keith Murnighan: https://www.amazon.com/Do-Nothing-Discover-Hands-Off-Leadership/dp/0143108565/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=do+nothing&qid=1616949198&sr=8-3 My email is sbwang17@gmail.com if you want to reach me.
Gaurav is CTO and Co-Founder of Sleek, a Lightspeed Ventures Fellow, Forbes 30 under 30 Honoree, former Google, LinkedIn, and Microsoft Software Engineer, and Stanford MS-Engineering Graduate. An engineer turned entrepreneur, He co-founded Sleek after spending 10+ years leading technical teams on multi-billion dollar initiatives in hi-tech companies such as Microsoft, LinkedIn, and Google. Having developed products touching the lives of billions of users, Gaurav stayed at the forefront of the latest technologies and developed a keen eye for the user's needs. As always, please feel free to reach to me. My email sbwang17@gmail.com and I'm always looking to connect with new people. More about Gaurav, Sleek, Earth 2, and Coruscant.
Andrew Kirima is currently the CTO of Sencha Credit and a recent graduate of the University of Arizona. He's focused on developing and launching exciting new software products that will make the world a better place. An enthusiast of the acceleration of technology, Andrew writes on Medium.com and is always looking for new ideas and opportunities in the tech space. Today Andrew and I dove headfirst into the uncharted waters of the tech space discussing interplanetary migration, NeuraLink, and much more. If you have any questions or want to get in touch with me, feel free to reach out on Instagram @simonbwang or send me an email directly at sbwang17@gmail.com.
In today's episode, I sat down with Justin Nguyen, founder of GetchoGrindUp and host of the Declassified College Podcast which recently broke into the iTunes Top 100 charts on Apple Podcasts. Although Justin has made a career out of giving outstanding, zero bullshit advice to college students (I really encourage any young listeners to check out his podcast), that's not what we talked about today. We dove into Justin's past as a soccer player and how a major injury forced him to completely change course in his life, leading him to where he is today. As always, if you have any questions about today's episode or have a story you would like to share please reach out to me on my Instagram: @simonbwang. If you're not on social media, click here and fill out the email form to send me a message.
Money talks, but not everybody likes to talk about money. For most, discussing investments and budgets is difficult, but today's guest is here to make it a little easier. My guest Robert Leonard is the host of the Millenial Investing Podcast, and if you are just starting to invest or think about investing, today's episode will delve into some important topics you should understand first. As always, if you have any questions about today's episode or have a story you would like to share please reach out to me on my Instagram: @simonbwang. If you're not on social media, click here and fill out the email form to send me a message.
Young adults and teens coming out of high school struggle with finding what they want to pursue in life. They have interests and maybe even a few passions, but they just can't decide what direction they want to go with their future. However, there are some unique individuals that have a sense of calling from an early age that sticks with them into their adult lives. This calling drives them and gives them a resounding sense of purpose, knowing their career matters to themselves and those around them. Jacob Long is a fireman with the West Reading Fire Department in Berks County, Pennsylvania, and since he was a child, Jacob has known this was his destiny. In today's episode, we talk about Jacob's background, why he has such a strong connection to firefighting, and how he was able to sustain this dream long enough to manifest it into reality. As always, if you have any questions about today's episode or have a story you would like to share please reach out to me on my Instagram: @simonbwang. If you're not on social media, click here and fill out the email form to send me a message.
In episode 1 we spoke with a current student about the experience of going to college this past fall in the midst of Covid-19, but what about people that chose to defer their college experience? Schools like Dartmouth and Yale saw five and sevenfold increases respectively in gap year students from the accepted class of 2024. A multitude of factors aligned this past year to create a “perfect storm” which made gap years an attractive option for many students, including myself. Today I'll get into my decision to take a gap year and how I've made use of my time. As always, if you have any questions about today's episode or have a story you would like to share please reach out to me on my Instagram: @simonbwang. If you're not on social media, click here and fill out the email form to send me a message.
Oftentimes people find themselves dwelling on the past and regretting their decisions. In fact, some might say that it is only natural as human beings for us to constantly think about our greatest mistakes as it aids our ability to respond to the same situation correctly in the future. However, now that humanity has mostly escaped the cycle of immediate gratification, we need to start learning and, more importantly, moving on from the past. In today's episode I speak with Alex Berger, a longtime soccer player and fellow gap semester/year student. We talk about our experiences (both the negative and the positive) with the game of soccer, how they've shaped us as well as our goals, and why we need to let go of our regrets in order to view our futures clearly. Please go check out Alex's podcast, The Goodberger Podcast, on Spotify, and as always, if you have any questions about today's episode or have a story you would like to share please reach out to me on my Instagram: @simonbwang. If you're not on social media, click here and fill out the email form to send me a message.
The past couple weeks I dove right into conversations with some amazing guests, but I realized that you all have no idea who I am. So in this episode I will be reviewing the history of Simon Says from its beginnings to where I envision it going in the future, my own background and notable life experiences, and my reflections on the pivotal moments in my life. Take a front row seat as I look back on my relationship with soccer, contemplate how I learned to stay positive during setbacks, and express what I think is wrong with the American education system. As always if you have any questions about today's episode or have a story you would like to share please reach out to me on my Instagram: @simonbwang
Asian-Americans are often regarded as one of the hardest working, and most successful immigrant groups in America, but the fact remains that only 5.6% of the American population identify as Asian. Despite the odds, Asian-Americans have earned outstanding academic achievement across the board, elevating their socioeconomic status as a whole. In fact, Asian students are doing so well that they are accusing some of the top institutions of higher education of keeping them out on purpose. What is it like to grow up with this unique set of stereotypes? Is it difficult to fit in socially with such little representation in the population? How can young Asian-Americans and kids in general find ways to embrace their culture more openly? In today's episode we tackle all of these questions and more as we welcome Jason Mai, a Pre-Dental student at the University of Calgary and fellow graduate of Wyomissing High School, to the show today to discuss his experiences growing up as a Vietnamese and Canadian American. If you have questions about today's show, or you have a story you'd like to share with me on the show, find and message me on Instagram @simonbwang. There's a link in my bio with my email as well. You can find Jason on Instagram @jasonmai7
COVID-19 has impacted the life of every human being on this planet. Whether you went from working in a cubicle to your home office or had to postpone a wedding celebration, everyone has had to make sacrifices and changes to their daily lives in order to adjust to life in a pandemic. Colleges were uniquely affected by the virus because many were forced to keep students off their campuses, but some institutions have found ways to create safe environments. Nick Dowling, a first year Environmental Science major at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, has found ways to remain vigilant during the difficult times we are living through. In this episode, I dive deeper into his experience this past semester, how he's managed to find success under these circumstances, and what his thoughts on what the relationship between the landscape of virus and the college experience will look like in the near future. If you have questions about today's show, or you have a story you'd like to share with me on the show, find and message me on Instagram @simonbwang. There's a link in my bio with my email as well. You can find Nick Dowling on Instagram @nickdowling3