Building Thinkers: Accessible Blueprints for Learning & Life

If your team feels overwhelmed or disconnected, the problem might be cultural, not operational. I sit down with Alma Quiroga to unpack how we might bring impactful order out of chaos. And wow, this conversation is one that made me completely rethink how stories shape the way we lead. Alma shares her journey of challenging traditional business norms and building people-first organizational cultures...

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed, distracted, or like you’re just going through the motions, this episode is for you. I’m chatting with Shani Persson, co-founder of Wonder, about what it means to "be where your feet are.” We unpack what being truly present looks like, not just as a buzzword, but as a way of living and working that honors us as whole human beings with brains, bodies, and lives....

What if the voice in your head that’s holding you back isn’t actually you? In this episode of Building Thinkers, I’m talking with Sara Huang about how to rewrite those limiting beliefs that keep us stuck. Sara is an expert facilitator and designer who works with creative conflict resolution and collaboration. We dive into practical ways to identify and change those mental patterns, including conce...

In this episode of the Building Thinkers podcast, Tracy interviews Paula Amiama about one of her twelve favorite problems: How might we increase flow & and creativity to bring joy to work? Over the last decade, Paula worked across marketing, the arts, sustainability, innovation, and education. She’s had stops in start-ups, non-profits, and large corporate organizations. Currently, Paula leads...

In this episode, Tracy is joined by Lily Higgins, the founder of The Intervention Bureau, a learning experience design consultancy where she partners with agencies and thought-leaders to design signature sessions fueling her crusade against boring, ineffective workshops. They discuss the importance of creating space for mindset shift within learning experiences and the role of facilitation as an a...

In this episode, Tracy and Hannah discuss the importance of being present and intentional in our lives. They explore the impact of conditioned beliefs and the pressure to conform to societal expectations. The conversation highlights the need to be fully present in each moment (be where your feet are) and the consequences of not doing so.  They talk about the practice of mindfulness through meditat...

In this episode of Building Thinkers Tracy interviews T. Mark Meyer, author of "The Art of Being Authentic." They dive deep into creating space for powerful mindset shifts that transform your learning and life experiences. They cover the following topics: Discovering your purpose:  Uncover what truly drives you and learn to express it authentically. Confidence vs. self-esteem:  Understan...

In this episode, Tracy interviews Jonathan Butterworth about the power of habits and how they can be used to improve various aspects of life. Jonathan shares his background as an entrepreneur and his experience in building people and teams. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the desired outcomes before implementing habits and making necessary sacrifices. Jonathan also discusses the bala...

In this episode, Tracy Clark interviews Chris Skees, a learning product manager at Cisco Meraki, about putting the learner at the center of the learning conversation. Chris shares his background and journey in the learning and development field, highlighting the importance of understanding personas and meeting learners where they are. He emphasizes the need for learning professionals to talk to le...

Tracy Clark and Sandhya Sudhakar discuss the importance of knowing oneself at work and how it’s critical to activating human potential. Sandhya shares her personal journey of experiencing burnout and leaving the corporate world to start her own business focused on helping individuals understand their innate potential and make choices that align with their true selves. They discuss the consequences...

Tracy Clark & Shemmy Majewski talk about the inflection point of this moment in time when it comes to AI and Machine Learning and how Shemmy’s own journey with diabetes fuels his passion for harnessing its power to enhance the lives of those living with diabetes. Episode Resources - Recommendations from Shemmy Majewski Books  Only The Paranoid Survive | by Grove Andrew Flowers for Algernon | b...

The Building Thinkers Podcast is based on the realization that there is exponential potential and possibility in the things we build: From websites to mindsets, From freelancing firms to workout routines, From leadership programs to checklists, From that book proposal to the crucial conversation, we keep delaying, From goals and habits to the soundtracks we play in our minds. And these things we b...

In this episode Tracy Clark steps through The Building Thinkers Goal Guide, a set of vision planning and strategic reflection activities for multi-potentialites. Download the FREE Goal Guide Here - https://courses.buildingthinkers.com/goalguide Looking for more support to make progress on your Big Idea? Learn more about The Learning Agility Cohort Here - https://courses.buildingthinkers.com/learni...

In this episode, Tracy interviews Vaughn Sigmon, a corporate executive turned entrepreneur and founder of Results Driven Leadership. From his executive role at Carmax leading a team of over 3,000, to his entrepreneurial role as the founder of Results Driven Leadership, Vaughn shares his insights and strategies on a wide range of topics including leadership, giving feedback,  time management, and m...

In this episode, Tracy Clark explores the idea of holding a dozen of your favorite problems in mind and why it is a powerful reflection exercise. We talk about multipotentialites and how this activity can help us get more clear about what matters to us, even when there are lots of possibilities on the table. We dig into the question, what is the work we want to be doing?  We also consider how the...

​​​​ Tracy Clark & Kerry Ann Pearce talk all about building organized spaces and entrepreneurship. Kerry Ann shares her journey from the Bahamas to Buda, Texas where she launched and now runs her professional organizing services company, Luxxe Organizing. We talk about some of the reasons why people end up with too much stuff and too little space and how she approaches helping others decrease...

​​​​Tracy Clark & Romy Alexandra explore experiential learning and jump into the deep end of the duality of learning and development work. In this episode, Romy shares opportunities she sees to bring more humanity into the learning space. We talked about the power of the rules of open space not only for learning experience design but also as a handy mental reframing tool she applies to her lif...

​​​​Tracy Clark & Jordan Hopkins talk all things customer education -  including how to build customer education experiences that support informed, happy customers and better business outcomes. We talked about the power of simplicity in learning experience design and why less is almost always more. Jordan shares his take on how engagement isn’t always loud or overt and lessons he’s learned fro...

In this episode, Tracy Clark explores the idea of learning agility and why it is the ultimate competitive advantage for modern work and life. Tracy answers the questions: - What is learning agility? - Why does learning agility matter? - How might we begin to develop learning agility? Including three practical ideas for getting started with your own learning agility development. Tracy shares how re...

​​​​Tracy Clark & Kristiaan Hartmann talk about building clarity and motivation to learn.  Kristiaan spoke to his own challenge in making decisions at important crossroads in life and how he learned to trust his intuition take action and change course when necessary as he went from snowboard instructor at 17 to people manager to lecturer and entrepreneur.  Kristiaan shared how he and his co-fo...

Tracy Clark & Alexia Raven talk about building a life of continuous adventure and personal growth. Alexia shares her mindsets and practices for making ongoing progress towards her goals personally and professionally. Alexia gives a mini-master class on marriage and shares her potentially controversial viewpoint that marriage is “easy”. We talk through what prompted Alexia to move from Hollywoo...

​​​​Tracy Clark & Manuel S. Herrera talk about the power of drawing to make thinking visible. Manuel shares about creativity, art, visual literacy and why we sometimes may put our creative practices aside for a period of time. Manuel reflects on his career in education and edtech and the new opportunities opening up through his own illustrations and creative practices. We also talked about how...

Tracy Clark & Amanda Parker talk about building courage from within. With a remarkable career journey from NYC marketing to working with jaguars in Panama for the World Wildlife Fund and for clients such as the World Economic Forum, World Bank, Unicef, and General Assembly - Amanda’s experience in organizational and individual transformation shines throughout our conversation as she shares her...

​​​​Tracy Clark & Anna Brewster talk about building teams for collective impact and evidence-based health policy. We analyzed why there is such a gap between what we know (research) and what we do (practice) across many fields and what strategies make an impact. If information doesn't change behavior, what does? Anna shares her journey from management consulting at Deloitte to cancer preve...

Tracy Clark and Stephanie Simpson talk about conscious leadership and becoming more “human” at work. At a time when change is happening at an exponential pace, having the tools to navigate ambiguity and adversity is vital. Stephanie shares how her unique experience in the performing arts and arts education comes into play as she coaches clients and teams to nurture the connection between mind, bod...