WALKS

Kwazi, born and bred in Brooklyn (New York City), works at The Brooklyner as a building manager. In today's episode we start with the question: what difference does mindset make? We embark on a conversational journey about the ups and downs in life and how mindset can play a big role in shaping those.

Michael Edward Thomas is a Brazilian-American tech leader who lives part of the year in NYC and part of the year elsewhere (his nomadic side comes out). In this episode he sheds light around how he approaches building healthy relationships (of any type!), how his multi-cultural background has influenced that, and the primary learnings he's had around the topic. This is not an exhaustive episode on how to approach relationships, but simply two friends exploring how they've approached relationships so far and what are some of the main epiphanies they have encountered. Curious about relationships? Tune in.

Today we speak with Laydee V, DJ/Producer, owner of Platform 7even. Recognize Robin Hood, Hamilton (Bermuda), Play 2, Ibiza (Spain), or Ministry of Sound, London (UK)? She's DJ'd at all of those. Experience what it's like to be a global DJ with this episode! Laydee V's soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/verunka17

Mike Bott gave me my first true professional opportunity; he gave me my first job out of college. He had the courage to look at a 1-page A4 resume with nothing more than a couple Microsoft Office skills, a lot of fillers, and a font probably too small to be legible, and still decide to believe I could become a great professional. On top of giving me my first job he taught me a thing or two about leadership. Now, what makes a good leader? Leadership is probably one of the biggest content churning machines out there. There's a lot of content on leadership, but too often it looks more like my first resume, with its fillers and small font, than useful content aspiring leaders can use. To change that, in today's episode we go a step further and actually dive into leadership authentically. This is by far not an exhaustive episode on good leadership, it's just the story of a leader that I believe is really good at that, motivating and inspiring others. Mike used empathy, vulnerability and a lot of authenticity to become the Global Managing Director for LHi Group. Today he shares why he leads the way he does and how a lot of it traces back to the myriad life experiences he's had along the way. Botty, thanks for the walk (and the first job).

"Students were so down, nobody knew how to respond. There was so much shock and sadness. And I really tapped back into what my mom told me as a kid, you know, love yourself and take great pride in your culture and your identity. And so I decided to take it upon myself to plan Black History Month at [Boston College] that year" (Naya during season 2 episode 5 of WALKS) In today's episode we're joined by Naya Joseph, an inspiring leader and change-maker. Most recently she co-founded ColorStack, a nonprofit startup working hard to increase the retention and success of Black and Latinx Computer Science students. On today's episode we cover what it's like to build an idea from the ground up, what it feels like to make a difference and how one should build a a team of "coaches" around them to stay both mentally and physically healthy. Naya, thanks for inspiring us with your extraordinary story. #walkspodcast #dei #startup #mentalhealth #colorstack

On today's episode we go on a walk with Jesse Meza. Jesse grew up in Texas, surrounded by poverty and with no person in his family who had graduated from high school. Today he's an MBA student at a world-renown business school like UCLA Anderson, he's led teams at prestigious media companies prior to starting graduate school and he's been recognized by AdColor Future and as a 4A's MAIPer to Watch for all his work in diversity, equity, and inclusion. Jesse exudes optimism, grit and kindness, all of which have propelled him to pioneer a new way of life not limited by the odds dictated by where he grew up. As Rosa Meza famously said "Querer es poder"/"Wanting is power", and Jesse is the perfect example of that. Jesse, thanks for joining us on today's walk.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development shows that 580,466 people were counted as homeless in 2020, representing a 2.2% increase over 2019. Outside of homelessness 16% of children in the US live below the poverty line (they represent the poorest age group). Of those 73% are children of color. The pandemic has only exacerbated all of this, which is why organizations like Street Soccer USA and people like Reed Fox exist. Street Soccer USA offers a soccer-based life skills program to empower those living in poverty. They have 22 programs across 16 cities, with over 1,000 volunteers and have teams that participate in national championships as well as the annual Homeless World Cup. Reed Fox is a Program Manager within the organization carrying out various key roles including acting as the lead of the Homeless World Cup program for the United States. He's also co-founded Sports Charity Mwanza, an NGO in Tanzania, providing sustainable infrastructure and developing the sports environment in the Mwanza region of Tanzania. Reed, thanks for joining us on the show!

Steven Rogers, better known by his artistic name, Beowülf, is one of the biggest names in the lo-fi hip-hop world; a genre that layers introspective sounds and vocals to create relaxing and soul warming experiences. Born in Florida, Beowülf grew up in a household with a deep appreciation for music. His dad and several brothers were in the business of mixing tracks as he was growing up. He took it to another level though. With over 500k monthly listeners on platforms such as Spotify, more than 20k subscribers on Youtube and features on platforms such as MTV he has built prominent platform for his music. His journey was definitely not an easy one but a memorable one for sure. This episode explores Beowülf's journey from dreaming about becoming a musician to actually turning that into a reality. Beowülf it's a pleasure to have you on the show.

The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) estimates that internationally there were just 25 million tourist arrivals in 1950. 68 years later this number had increased to 1.4 billion international arrivals per year. Traveling has obviously changed a lot because of COVID-19, but it still remains one of the most sought out activities by humans. Something about exploring the unknown, meeting new people and going on adventures. One of the beauties of traveling is how you're pushed to become more vulnerable, to open up, and how doing so allows you to form deep relationships with strangers in a very short period of time. That's how I met Rudy. Today we go on a WALK to explore traveling and the wonders it brings. For context, this episode was recorded a couple months after the WHO announced the COVID-19 pandemic, so we focus on traveling up until that point.

We reach season 1's finale with this special episode. They say the people around you have a big impact in shaping who you become; I agree, so I try to be selective with who I surround myself with. Today's guest is the person I've spent the most time with since September 6th, 2018. She has helped show me the importance of being vocal and more importantly empowering others to ensure they're being heard. She's brave, she's bold and today she explains to us what having a shared identity from two antagonistic countries feels like. Maesoumeh is American-Iranian, born in Tehran but bred in New Jersey. In this episode we discuss identity, what it feels like to be the odd one out, and how being an immigrant shapes your values as a person. Zebralingo.

Parkour or freerunning, as it's known to some, is a fascinating sport. It blends martial arts, breakdance and raw adrenaline as you use your body to creatively overcome obstacles whilst you get from point A to B. To explore the life of a professional parkour athlete we have a very special guest: Toby Segar. He's been training parkour since he was 10, has been a finalist at Ninja Warrior UK multiple times and has also jumped from skyscraper to skyscraper in cities like Seoul, Honk Kong and Mumbai. Toby is part of the famous pro parkour collective STORROR (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdPui8EYr_sX6q1xNXCRPXg) where he works with 6 other athletes to create top-notch parkour content on a weekly basis. Tune in and learn how to soul search through parkour.

Health and nutrition play a huge role in our lives; they can dictate our state of mind and even how long we live. There's a ton of information out there, some good, some bad, so today we dive into these two topics with Jamie Millar. Born and bred in Scotland, he shares through a bold Scottish accent why nutrition matters, whether a plant-based diet can give us the right amount of nutrients and how we should conceptualize mock meats. Some great raw comments, cooked into a fine episode.

Women face discrimination at work. That's a reality. This ranges from unequal pay, to reduced access to career growth and even sexual harassment. This is why on today's episode we go on a WALK with Desirée Gaddis. She has a diverse background, having experienced both leadership at an NYC tech startup and a large CPG corporation, as well as working as frontline staff during at latter. She shares the challenges she's faced, how that made her feel and what someone in a similar position can do to empower themselves. Blending a great mix of authenticity and light-heartedness, Desirée helps us push this conversation forward. McKinsey report: https://womenintheworkplace.com/

Surfing is cool, there's no disagreeing there. Most people know the basics of the sport, the mechanics of how one paddles and then stands up, but what does surfing really feel like? What is it like to stand up on a floating vessel as you descend a roaring wave into an uncertain future? Mr. Rousseaux, maybe a descendant of Jacques maybe not, joins us today to explore that and more. He's surfed for 7 years, in 7 different countries, and has even worked for a surf powerhouse like Quicksilver. Begging for hot dog leftovers, sharp reefs in the Philippines, and more on today's episode.

Imagine getting to teach over 60,000 students how to dance salsa? That's what Jai Barkley has accomplished so far through his salsa studio, The Salsa Foundation. What's interesting is that he wasn't a classically trained dancer or even a dancer at all until 14 years ago which is when a friend took him to Copa Cabana, a Latin club in Melbourne (Australia), where he fell in love with salsa. He offers an authentic and introspective take on what it is to try something, what it's like to build a salsa studio from scratch, and ultimately what values salsa has taught him throughout that journey. P.s. He also played a huge role in getting me hooked to salsa. Thanks again, Jai.

There aren't any AP classes on romantic relationships are there? Yet there's AP astronomy. Don't get me wrong, the universe fascinates me (I recently went to a black hole exhibition at the Liberty Science Center which I highly recommend), but I've yet to wake up with a pure high or deep pain from an astronomy class. Relationships play a big role in our lives, dictating our mood, shaping our trajectories, and ultimately making us who we are. On today's WALK we chat with Jeff and Sue, probably the most in love married couple I know. 28 years and 4 kids later they're still very much as in love as they were that day they met at a bar in Hunter mountain. This episode is not meant to dictate an exhaustive list of things to check to ensure you have a successful relationship. It's just one take on what has kept them going for so long, because look, we all get tired of one another at some point, or maybe not if it's the right person.

Cuba is a fascinating country, with a unique culture and past. It's known for its salsa, its ranking as the country with the most doctors per capita as well as having been the home of Fidel Castro until his death. During the next 30 minutes, we'll virtually visit Cuba through Troy LeCaire's story who lived there for 4 months whilst doing his study abroad. In this podcast we explore some of the questions they don't really cover in your typical "Visit Cuba!"-esque media; we explore whether Cubans are happier than Americans, how a 1 terabyte hard drive functions as Cuba's Netflix HQ, and how come a peanut vendor earns more than a doctor. Story time. 

Take 2. This time we go on a WALK with Adrian Martin. He's currently a first-year resident at Hospital Universitario de la Princesa in Madrid (Spain), specializing in neurosurgery. A lot of the world has already been affected by the current pandemic, but Spain as of now has the most cases of and deaths per capita, which is a grim reality. Adrian WALKS us through what it's like to be a doctor through a pandemic, what feelings you go through, what shocking truths you're exposed to and ultimately how you find hope through such times. All in all, this episode is an informative, light-hearted and optimistic take on the current situation. A shout out to all the healthcare professionals, like Adrian, who are helping push this forward. P.S. Adrian, thanks for calling me out on this; we'll definitely have to talk more.

Damn, it's funky listening to your own voice. First up on the WALKS journey we have Jason Isaacs, known by some as dream trap artist Oliver Sainte. Jason brings introspection and authenticity to today's episode where he tells us more about how his childhood impacted his musical identity and what his counterpart, Oliver Sainte, has been up to recently. You might find him partying at the MET, but if that's too far, you can also find him here: https://soundcloud.com/oliversainte Stay tuned for more WALKS.