Connecting With Purpose

Today's guest is all about inspiring people to rise above adversity and move beyond fear. He believes that when our truth outweighs our fear, we can commit to living a courageous life. John Register is a true example of resilience. A combat Army veteran and two-time U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier in the hurdles, John's life changed forever after a traumatic misstep resulted in the loss of his left...

In this episode of Connecting with Purpose, we're joined by Gina Tucci, founder of Beyond the Scoreboards , licensed counselor, and mental performance coach. With a lifelong passion for sports and athletic competition, Gina helps athletes, coaches, executives, and teams overcome mental roadblocks and elevate their performance. Drawing from her background in sports psychology and mental health coun...

In this episode of Connecting with Purpose, we're joined by Dr. Adam Russell, Chief Vision Officer for the U.S. Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute and Director of the AI Division at USC's Information Sciences Institute. With an impressive background spanning DARPA, IARPA, and ARPA-H, Adam shares his journey through groundbreaking research in AI, human behavior, and national security. Adam re...

Turning Challenges into Purpose and Winning Life Beyond the Game   In this episode of Connecting with Purpose , we're joined by Carlette Patterson—CEO and Founder of Patterson Sports Ventures, where she pioneers Sports Life Coaching to help athletes and leaders navigate transitions with purpose and resilience.   Inspired by her journey as a mother to three daughters, Carlette built a legacy of tur...

Pioneering Change and Opportunity in Women's Sports In this episode of Connecting with Purpose, we sit down with Digit Murphy—a trailblazer in women's sports and leadership. Digit's career spans decades as a coach, executive, and advocate, dedicated to creating opportunities for women using sports as a leadership platform. From her transformative role as the first full-time women's hockey coach at...

Spartan Investment Group is on a mission to improve lives through real estate. As co-founder and CEO, Scott Lewis is living his purpose through Spartan. There are few people with as diverse a background as Scott, which had included teaching English in Thailand, various positions in sales, strategic and project management for the federal government culminating at the GS 15 level, and being on activ...

In this conversation,  Michael Bearup shares the insights from his 38 year long career with KPMG, within which he most recently held the following titles: Former Lead Partner for Culture at KPMG US, Lead Director KPMG US, Office Managing Partner KPMG Colorado. Michael Bearup's mission is to engage in conversations that bring out the untapped potential in individuals. He has discovered the key to t...

Join us for an enlightening conversation with Dr. Ophelia Byers, Founder and Principal at  SitchRoom , speaking from the heart about the origins of her purpose, the importance of leadership training and the impact she has achieved as a former Chief Nursing Officer and continues via her transition into founding her own leadership development consultancy - SitchRoom. With a focus on the challenge fo...

Do something you love and opportunities will continue to open up". Inspired by Nelson Mandela's Presidency in South Africa and his Nation's historic Rugby World Cup victory which unified South Africa in 1995 (popularized beyond rugby circles via the movie: Invictus), Dallen Stanford's energy was directed towards positive impact from that point on. From playing international rugby as a team mate, t...

Nathan Ott is the Chief Polisher (CEO) and co-founder of The GC Index and author of the book: Coaching Me, Coaching You. The GC index measures an individual's natural energy & inclinations when it comes to making their biggest impact and contribution to a role, team or organization. Their vision is to empower more than 10% of the world's population to positively impact their world! Nothing like th...

Chris Allaire is the Founder and CEO of Averity a NYC based, people-forward recruiting company that have been named the Best Staffing and Recruiting Company to Work For in North America, on multiple occasions. To speak a little to Chris and Averity's approach to recruiting (and work generally): Human beings are not buzzwords! People are not algorithmic searches. You are not a robot. People hire pe...

Join today's host, Neil Turnham as he chats with Dan Winter-Bates, Head of Organizational Development for the NHS in the UK and the vocalist of Bury Tomorrow, a renowned metalcore band. In this episode, they explore imposter syndrome: its origins, its emotional impact, and practical strategies for dealing with it. Dan's unique perspective, blending healthcare leadership and a music career, provide...

Dr. Nigel Girgrah leads with vulnerability and courage. He quite simply wants to make people feel good. As Chief Wellness Officer to over 30,000 employees, he models behaviors that create an open, empathetic and accepting workplace, where people care for each other and collaborate to achieve great things. Dr. Girgrah shares his own mental health challenges, career highlights, challenges, philosoph...

Grace Zuncic is Chief People and Impact Officer at the deeply purpose-driven adventure gear retailer, Cotopaxi . She sees it as her own purpose to help others be their best selves, which she's realized is something she can do at scale in HR roles. Now, she's helping Cotopaxi through a stage of rapid growth beyond its initial familial startup phase, to attract, develop, and engage employees We disc...

Mark Atkinson's purpose is to make work a source of dignity and self actualization. He's pursued that goal in a wide variety of roles and sectors, now as an entrepreneur and CEO of Mursion, Inc., a VR training platform for professionals to practice and master workplace skills. He's frustrated that we use creature comforts to entrap people in functions that don't elevate them to their full potentia...

Question: What does being an SVP at NFP a 7,400 employee insurance and consultancy company, have to do with being a play-by-play commentator at Butler Bulldog's Basketball Team? Answer: Storytelling. This was such a fun and entertaining conversation with Mark Minner , Senior Vice President at NFP. Storytelling is the basis for how he gets to know people, building authentic connections, engaging, e...

Yuisa Perez is the first Chief People Officer of the Boston Museum of Science where she brings over 20 years of experience as a passionate human resources leader, K-12 educator, and a champion for creating vibrant spaces for all communities to realize their natural talent. Her sense of purpose goes back to high school where she had long felt othered, not least of which by the mispronunciation of h...

Openness, transparency & compassion enable us to get to know each other, to share, challenge, to build trust. Trust is a foundational component upon which positive and high performing cultures are built. Trust is also enriched with candid conversations, difficult decisions, holding people accountable and during these tougher moments, doing the right thing. Individual purpose is about people being...

Christina Keller is the CEO of Cascade Engineering, an engineering and manufacturing firm that knows a people-centric culture is key to its success. Celebrating 50 years of operations, with a triple bottom line approach since day one, Christina and the Cascade team are committed to making their business a force for good for all stakeholders. Cascade is B Corp certified, a Certified Women's Busines...

How do we make work better for the people we work with? Analiese Brown , VP of People & Culture at Campminder, focuses on three things to bring purpose into the work place - 1. making meaning of the work, so people can see the difference it has; 2. Connecting people together, so they feel part of the whole, something bigger than themselves, where they can develop strong relationships; and 3. Inspi...

Michael Oh has partnered with several purpose-driven CEOs to grow companies. He knows first hand the joys and challenges of this growth. One of his top tips is the need to recognize and accept the inevitability of change as companies grow. Effective leaders support people at every level to opt in or out of the organization as it evolves. Being in touch with purpose helps Michael navigate this and...

Compassion, Optimism, Resilience and Enthusiasm - these are 4 words that describe Laurie Shakur , Chief People Officer at Session AI, and her leadership model. In essence it is these principles that bring Laurie's purpose to life and enable her to support people in being at their best. A big believer in building upon others' strengths and authenticity, her CORE approach, combined with purpose resu...

Do you love what you do? Caralyn Cooley, EVP, Chief People Officer at Bowery Farming, is on a mission to ensure everyone does. This episode explores how Caralyn looks to identify and build upon her people's strengths to support what they do, how they do it and what they collaborate on together. Further, how they use this information to craft people's careers within the organization. As a mission d...

In this episode, Kris Hackbarth-Horn, Chief People Officer at Fox Communities Credit Union, joins host Mark Griffin to explore the power of simple models, frameworks and questions to support leaders in developing their people (and themselves). From strength-based assessments, to 5 questions in Fox CCU's new coaching model; the philosophy is about connecting people's soul to their work. Intended ou...

Connecting With Purpose is back for a second season! The show is meant to  inspire and guide discovery to embed purpose into people's work and lives, improving wellbeing and performance for themselves, their organizations, and their worlds. We help leaders create the impact they seek and inspire a ripple effect of purpose activation. Hear consequential conversations about doing what matters most -...