Growth & Failure

This is the story of Lake Dai, Entrepreneur, Investor, Professor, and all-around creator. For 20 years, she led the product and engineering teams globally including at Alibaba, Apple, and Yahoo. In this episode, we discuss: - How her Mom didn't want her to be an engineer (even though she was an aerospace engineer!)  - Why she switched from economics & marketing to engineering & produc...

This is the story of Lindsay Benner, performance artist and entertainer extraordinaire. Some have described her as what you would get if Lucille Ball and Charlie Chaplin had a love child ...who likes to juggle! In this episode, we discuss: - Her unique style of cabaret, comedy and juggling - How Lindsay became a popular street performer - Women in Vaudeville - The "Joy of the Drop" in Jugglin...

In this episode, we discuss: - Becoming a professional dancer  - Starting a dancing non-profit called Kalamity  - Having five children and THEN being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia  - Dancing her way through cancer and covid  - Her maxim: Desire, Decide, Do it.  For more information on Tia: https://www.instagram.com/thetiabeestokes/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/th...

This is the story of Nouria Newman, the incredible French whitewater kayaker.  She is one of the best kayakers in the world and we were able to have this interview just a few days after she made history in Ecuador and rode a 100-foot waterfall descent.  In this episode, we discuss with the Red Bull sponsored-athlete: - Love at first kayak sight at the age of 4 - Why she left the com...

This is the story of Emily Hyland, the co-founder of the wildly popular restaurants Pizza Loves Emily and Emmy Squared. This was a fantastic conversation and it wasn’t just because we talked about pizza and burgers the whole time.  In this episode, we discuss: -        Emily’s journey from poetry and teaching to be a restauranteur -   &nb...

This is the story of Dr. Jessica Ritch, a board-certified gynecologist that is fellowship-trained doing minimally invasive procedures.  In this episode, we discuss Jessie's journey from gymnast and teen model to medical school and travels to Africa that would transform her perspectives and amplify her goals to help women. I am inspired by Jessie's positivity. A working mom balancing a high-de...

This is the story of Mei Xu - Founder of Pacific Trade International and it's subsidiary Cheseapeake Bay Candle. On this episode, we discuss how grit, innovation and a dash of good luck ignited a multi-million dollar candle success story. Mei covers: - Growing up in China and aspiring to be a diplomat - How a menial job led to a serendipitous career  - The five critical elements in a candle -...

This is the story of TVu, Senior Vice President at Xandr, an innovative ad tech platform and also rapper in the band Magnetic North. This was an incredibly fun interview for me, I'm not sure if it is because Tvu is also Vietnamese or also went to Cal, but I think it's really because she's just awesome. Professionally, she is a successful engineer and also musically as a rapper! In this episode, we...

This is the story of Amanda McCrossin, a certified sommelier and incredible content creator for all things wine related. From the podcast she hosts Wine Access Unfiltered to her YouTube channel and her other social media platforms, Amanda is my favorite wine enthusiast. What I love about her wine style is she makes wine education accessible for the lay person like me who enjoys lots of wine (but s...

On this episode, we discuss: - Why Jane worked in the US Department of State's Bureau of Counterterrorism - How she created To The Market, a company that connects business and consumers with ethically made products from around the world - Her book: Buy the Change You Want to See - Dealing with rejection - What fuels her growth Please enjoy this interview with the incredible Jane Mosbacher Mor...

In this episode, we discuss: - Barbara's journey focused on public education, starting with an encounter with a friend in 6th grade who was deaf - How it feels to be a black woman in the field of deaf education, when you switch from being the minority to the majority - Coaching deaf athletes  - What education really means - Being a Mom to three boys AND starting a new school in a pandemi...

This is the story of Jo Riley, CEO and Co-Founder of Censia, a technology platform that was designed to transform the way companies hire talent. In this episode, we discuss Jo's journey with her athletic scholarship to UVA where she speaks about how rowing changed her mindset. When she retired from rowing, we transition the conversation to her time being in the FBI and ultimately why she left the...

This episode profiles Candice Myhre and we discuss her ER career starting in LA, why she transitioned to an ER in Hawaii and all of the hardships along the way. We discuss how she got the nickname of Dr. Bikini and why embracing that name will help in her fight to end sexism in the medical profession.  It's clear that Dr. Myhre is passionate about saving lives but also about living a balanced...

This is the story of Nikki Foster and her journey to being a combat pilot in the Air Force Academy.   As the daughter to immigrant parents, Nikki shares her journey of being an Air Force recruit, how she got to be an All-American Rugby Player (Two-Time National Champion), discovering her love for flying, and earning EIGHT Air Medals in combat.  We discuss how she felt leaving h...

In this episode, we travel with Shelley around the world from South Africa to Australia before ultimately landing in Japan. All along the way, Shelley amassed over 40 years experience in early childhood education. We discuss her school's mission which includes teaching children how to embrace differences, be confident in themselves, and also to think about sustainability. One of my...

This is the profile of Jessa Jones, the owner of iPad ReHab. Jessa's story is one of my favorites - she has a PhD in molecular genetics from The Johns Hopkins University and today is a masterful Microsolderer. This episode highlights her journey from slicing up fruitfly eyeballs to fixing logic boards of phones and laptops. We discuss how that transition happened when she smashed open a toile...

This is the story of Martha Tolles, the best selling author widely known for her Katie and Darci series that have sold over 2 million copies around the world. In this episode, Martha discusses her popular Katie and Darci series which is about a little girl, inspired by her daughter Cindy. From the 70s to the late 90s, Martha's books were some of the most popular in the Scholastic book offerin...

Kayla is a professional magician and ultimate storyteller. She is part scientist, part comedian, part bartender and part entrepreneur.  In this episode, you'll hear about Kayla's evolution as a magician. We start at the age of 7 when she first discovered a fascination for magic and then spent decades practicing, failing, refining and ultimately dazzling. She has performed on Penn & T...

This is the story of Tracy Holland, Entrepreneur extraordinaire. Tracy is the co-founder and CEO of HATCHBEAUTY - an incubator for beauty and wellness products. She has won numerous entrepreneur of the year awards all while balancing being a mother of three. On this episode, you'll hear Tracy's journey, the things she learned when she was sent to reform school when she was 15, how she was fired as...

In this episode, you'll hear Amber Freed's incredible story. She grew up in poverty and was able to escape a very challenging environment. When she was a teenager, she adopted her younger sisters when they were emancipated from their parents. Amber received numerous awards and scholarships to get her college education paid for but still worked three jobs in college to support her sisters.&nbs...

This is the story of Holly Mandel. In this episode, Holly and I discuss how improv changed her life. Her journey took her from St. Louis, Missouri to Los Angeles. After graduating from UCLA, she worked at Walt Disney Studios and eventually became a Groundlings member. After six wonderful years with The Groundlings as a main company member, she moved to New York and opened up her own improv sc...

This is the story of Rana Abdelhamid, a human rights organizer, entrepreneur, martial artist, and the ultimate community builder. In this episode, you'll hear about her fascinating story. She was a victim of a hate crime.  At the young age of 16, Rana had the vision to create a movement supporting women’s empowerment through self-defense, entrepreneurship and organizing tr...

This is the story of Keren Eldad, an extraordinary speaker, author and coach.  On this episode, we discuss Keren's childhood of traveling the world as the daughter of a diplomat. She grew up living in over a dozen countries and speaks multiple languages. She served in the Israeli Army and got her master's degree from the London School of Economics and also attended Columbia Business School. W...

Amanda Rice - Three time cancer survivor and hedge fund marketer extraordinaire.  Yinh and Amanda talk about Amanda's journey into finance and then the non-profit world as she  founded Chick Mission, an organization that helps women with cancer finance and understand fertility preservation after her own insurance claims were denied. When she isn't working on Chick Mission,...

This is the story of Rose Shoen. Founder and Head Coach for the Azteca Football Club.  On this episode, we discuss her journey from starting her own football club, being head coach and how she teaches her players to be a great soccer player on and off the field.