Good People, Cool Things

Psst, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. YOU have a ton of knowledge, and that knowledge is valuable. And I'd guess you probably know even more than you think.  Musician Fabiana Claure realized this amid a period of burnout. But instead of trying to overwork herself, she learned to start being more protective of her time and more efficient with her offerings—and it's paid off big time. No...

Writing might seem like a lonely and solitary practice, but it doesn't have to be. In fact, collaborating with others can often lead to better writing. Francis Daulerio has written multiple books of poetry while also finding unique ways to collab. My particular favorite: a split collection of "covers" — he wrote poems based on another writer's short stories, and the other writer wrote stories base...

If you were staring down a legend like Lionel Richie, how do you think you'd respond? Country singer Kate Watson was faced with that very situation. She performed one of Richie's songs during Season 19 of American Idol — and she's kept the good times going since then. She co-writes music with her father Jesse and dropped her latest single "Highway" earlier this year.  In this episode, Kate shares...

For perhaps her whole life, Annalisa Enrile has been an advocate for other people. She’s a social worker, professor at the University of Southern California, community organizer, and activist against human trafficking. So, naturally, Annalisa was a great host for a show like Goodniks, which explores the journey and meaning of doing good in the world. It’s storytelling at its finest. We’re talking...

Will Wood isn't like most musical artists. He incorporates standup comedy into his shows. He writes songs about topics most people overlook, like the life of a mouse that's been trapped. And he hates social media — even as it's brought him tons of new fans and millions of new listens. Sure, social media might be the downfall of us all, but there's plenty of good out there, too. From connecting wit...

I'm a huge fan of wordplay — one of my favorite articles I've ever written is about the O. Henry Pun-Off in Austin . And I'm a huge fan of trying new foods — that's partly why I started my website Phat Phoodies . Put them both together and you've got some MAGIC. That's exactly what Marie Saba has done with her book Don't Worry Be Ha-PEA: 101 Deliciously Clever Food Puns. Marie is a self-taught coo...

Joseph Robert, the Fantasy Football Counselor, shares how he's grown his brand into one of the top spots for fantasy football content — and spoiler alert, his tips apply for any type of business, not just sports.  We're also talking about the "kind of terrifying" leap from a stable 9-to-5 to starting your own business. But guess what? That jump into entrepreneur life has been filled with success b...

If you've seen a movie or show with a puppet, it's very possible Lisa Buckley was involved. The professional puppeteer has worked with The Muppets, Sesame Street, Alf, Men in Black and so much more. She's taken her puppets beyond the screen to do humanitarian aid work in impoverished countries. Focusing on adverse issues such as trauma, hygiene, and gender equality, Lisa works on the front lines o...

Do you ever have a recurring dream? Maybe you're always falling, and you wake up just before you smack into something. Or maybe you're like me as a child and randomly dream about fat men eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and exploding (but in a fun, cartoony way).  For Carlos Allende, a fiction writer and media scholar, his recurring dream was that he had murdered someone. And that served...

Have you been working towards a long-term goal but can’t seem to reach it? You just might need to implement a system to help get you where you want to go. Luckily, this episode’s guest has the tools you need to accomplish those goals. Dr. Dravon James is a Transformation Specialist, inspirational speaker, radio host, life coach, and author of Freedom is Your Birthright. She founded Next Step Leade...

Does it seem like the world is in particularly brutal shape right now? We’ve got violence happening across the country, politicians deciding how people should use their bodies, inflation and rising grocery prices, and oh yes, let’s not forget there’s still a pandemic going on.  Sometimes, it feels like we’re living the “ this is fine ” dog on fire cartoon in real life. But it doesn’t have to be al...

Mark Josephson knows a thing or two about successful business. He's previously launched About.com and Bitly, and now he's paving the way for thriving culinary entrepreneurs through Castiron.  Mark's dropping all kinds of knowledge, from the need for businesses to focus on simplicity, how culinary artisans can be smarter about their pricing methods, and why decentralization is going to be a major f...

I’ve been a candy fan for about as long as I can remember. Halloween nights were a contest to see how many Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Twix bars I could amass, and I once ate an entire large bag of Sour Skittles at a movie once (it was Undercover Brother, if you’re scoring at home). Yet I’ve never tried a candy quite like Tamalitoz. It combines some of the traditional flavors of Mexican candy w...

In January 2020, Adam Kaat quit his corporate job to focus on creative pursuits. To help support his new path, he took a job at a grocery store. Things were going swell until, as you may have heard, the Covid-19 pandemic shut down life just a few weeks later.  Suddenly, Adam was working at virtually the only place on earth that was still open. While everyone else was rocking masks and practicing s...

Many of us want to make more money. We’ll find side hustles, or work hard in our main gig so we can negotiate for more. Would you take up to $15,000 a day?  Aaron Smith, founder of Escaping The Odds, was doing just that on the south side of Chicago. The problem: His business with a heroin drug operation. He was later indicted and sentenced to 12 years in federal prison, serving nearly a decade of...

You step up to the mic, perhaps with weak knees or sweaty palms. Maybe you feel mom's spaghetti on your breath as you inhale deeply, ready to impress the world.  No, we haven't stumbled into the set of 8 Mile. Adam Wainwright and Ed Cunard are the hosts of The Greatest Song Ever Sung (Poorly) podcast, a show that takes karaoke exactly as seriously as it should be taken.  We're chatting about some...

April is World Autism Month. People with autism are talented in a number of categories, from music to art to coding. However, they often experience difficulties finding careers as many employers have misconceptions and a lack of understanding.  One woman and son duo is setting out to change these unemployment trends. Tiffany Hamilton and her son Isaiah are the founders of Victor Wear , with goals...

The NBA playoffs are upon us! While I can certainly rattle off some random games for you, I don't hold a candle to today's guest: statistician Dave Heeren, who has watched more than 75 YEARS of NBA basketball. Dave started dissecting games in college and quickly joined the New York Knicks as a team statistician. He's developed his TENDEX value rating to highlight the best to ever play the game. He...

So many businesses start by identifying a problem people have and trying to solve it. That was the idea behind GreenPal, the “Uber for lawn care” that connects homeowners with local lawn care professionals. But as GreenPal CEO and co-founder Bryan Clayton discovered along the way, he was actually solving a differentproblem for his customers. More than speed, more than a good deal, they want reliab...

Help! I need somebody...to listen to all the good stuff in this episode. Dan Greenberger is the author of The Boys Next Door: A Novel About the Beatles, and he's diving into his writing process for this historical fiction novel, rules around creative liberties, and a Hollywood career that's spanned a quarter-century.   We're also discussing how someone with creative ambitions can find a place in H...

Damion Taylor has long been fascinated by the intersection of data and creativity, and he's used a unique skill set to create content for brands and media companies such as Warner Bros., NBC Universal, and Machinima. Damion also created the Professional Confession podcast after experiencing the murder of Ahmaud Arbery and the Central Park Karen incident. The podcast features those conversations fr...

John Copenhaver's latest book The Savage Kind has gotten something just about every author hopes for: a great review from The New York Times. That's just one small part of the writing process, though.  Beyond two books in the...uh...books, John teaches high school English for dyslexic kids and college courses on writing fiction. He's also a co-host of Mystery Radio Show and writes reviews of queer...

Have you ever said things like "I'm not a science person" or "I can't do math"? Those types of phrases are actually be holding us back from achieving our goals, and they sure aren't helping the generations coming after us. Chris Emdin, PhD, is the founder of HipHopEd.com and the author behind S TEM, STEAM, Make, Dream: Reimagining the Culture of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math which is...

Julia Taylor is a self-taught web developer and online business owner who, by her own accounts, is an "accidental entrepreneur." Yet she's turned that happy accident into GeekPack, a thriving community built around empowering women and girls everywhere to create better lives for themselves through coding, managing their own businesses, and rocking the digital world. Julia's sharing how she got sta...

An entrepreneur at heart, Sadie Higgins experiences "hurry sickness," or a need to constantly keep doing the next thing. She founded her first business three months after having her first child. The day before the pandemic forced us into lockdown, she had started the idea that turned into her current business Gleam, which helps relieve the mental burden of giving gifts. Sadie candidly talks about...