The Ampersand Manifesto: Multi-Passionate People Dive Deep

Jessica interviews Brad Balukjian, Entomologist & Journalist. Brad studied journalism and island biogeography at Duke University and earned his Ph. D. in Environmental Science from UC Berkeley. Brad founded the Natural History and Sustainability program at Merritt College, where he teaches today. In 2020, his first book, The Wax Pack , reached #7 on the Los Angeles Times bestseller list and wa...

Jessica once again talks with Liron Lavi Turkenich, typeface designer & productivity expert — and a self-described multi-passionate. Since graduating from the University of Reading with a masters degree in typeface design, Liron has been designing custom multilingual typefaces for global companies specializing in Hebrew. She is the founder of Aravrit, a hybrid writing system that merges Hebrew...

This week, Jessica talks with Vasu Panicker, Music Maker & Business Strategist. Growing up as an arts kid in New York City, Vasu did his undergrad and grad music studies at City University of New York and then built and directed Face the Music, the country’s only youth music program dedicated to works by living composers. He himself is a creative composer and sound designer specializing in con...

This week, Jessica interviews Veronique Kherian, a San Francisco-based photographer, cheese evangelist, & classical singer. Vero studied Economics and French at Wellesley, and taught English in Normandy, France. After returning to the US to earn her JD, she grew her law practice focusing on intellectual property, when a life-altering stint as a cheesemonger brought her into the forefront of ar...

This week, Jessica chats with Percy Liang, Computer Scientist & Classical Pianist . Percy is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University. He got his Bachelor's from MIT and Ph. D. from UC Berkeley. His research is on artificial intelligence, more specifically foundation models that can generate text, images, and music. Percy has been playing piano since he was 8 years old...

In Season 2,  Ampersand Jessica Wan, leadership coach & classical singer , interviews people who, similarly, have led "double lives" for decades and succeed in two completely different worlds. This show explores how their two worlds – different as they may seem – collide, integrate, and fuel each other. Jessica's goal is to celebrate, elevate, and normalize these stories. Through these intervi...

"You can tell almost immediately which typeface it is from the ampersand character" Hello listeners! We're excited to bring you another bonus episode. Today, we'll be talking about the ampersand character and its role in typeface design. Joining Jessica is Liron Lavi Turkenich, design entrepreneur and typeface designer based in Israel. Liron is an Ampersand, and we'll be interviewing her about her...

Hello listeners!  Thanks for joining us in this bonus episode between season 1 and 2 where your host Jessica Wan shares a brief history of the Ampersand as told by Merriam-Webster (yes the dictionary makers). Also check out Shady Characters by Keith Houston . If you enjoyed season one, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts!   Are you a high achiever, a leader in your workplace, a...

For the season one finale episode of the Ampersand Manifesto, producer Naomi Tepper interviews Jessica Wan, creator and host of The Ampersand Manifesto who is a leadership coach & singer . Jessica's first Ampersand journey was as a double major in Product Design and Music, Vocal Performance as an undergrad at Stanford. She started her musical journey playing piano, violin, oboe, and the bass d...

This week, Jessica talks to Sara Wampler, a writer & tech executive . In her corporate life, Sara has spent almost fifteen years at Google, leading teams focused on customer success, community operations, and support strategy. In her creative life, she writes under the pen name Sara Ramsey and has published seven Regency romance novels. Sara is currently taking a break from the corporate world...

This week, Jessica talks with Don Atkins, ed-tech entrepreneur & classical pianist . Don is passionate about fostering individual and social flourishing through education, the arts, and creativity. He's been recently focused on product marketing in the EdTech space and also has worked in program management, policy, strategy, and operations in the agricultural and food innovation industries. Ea...

This week, Jessica talks to Laurel Sprigg, singer and former small business owner.  For 30 years, Laurel ran her business Laurel Sprigg Inc. , providing couture quality sewing of soft furnishings for the designed interior — custom-made draperies, shades, bed covers, pillows, and more. Her work has been featured in Architectural Digest and California Homes magazines. Since retiring earlier thi...

This week, Jessica interviews one of her closest friends, Tim Eischens a singer, pianist, & executive assistan t. Tim and Jessica met almost 20 years ago in their voice teacher Susan Gundunas's studio. She saw that he was the only male singer in the room and made a beeline for him, thinking, ooh a potential duet partner! Their first duet grew into a lifelong musical collaboration and a deep fr...

This week, Jessica talks with Stephanie Wu, a Marketer & Cellist .  Steph has appeared as a soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts . As one of 101 musicians selected from 33 countries, she performed in the YouTube Symphony at the Sydney Opera House in 2011 , a life-changing experience that inspired her to get an MBA from UC Berkeley and...

This week, Jessica talks with Dr. Arie Perry who is a physician & classical singer .  Arie started singing in a rock band in high school (inspired by Journey and Rush) and then he caught the classical music bug. He's performed as a lyric tenor with a number of ensembles including the San Francisco City Chorus, Oakland City Chorus, and American Bach Soloists. Arie is also a physician and t...

Jessica interviews Heidi Moss Erickson, a singer & scientist .  Heidi double majored in biology and vocal performance at Oberlin and went on to grad school to study biochemistry with an emphasis in neuroscience. Her postgrad research on telomeres led to a landmark paper in the research journal Cell .  For over 20 years, Heidi has had an extensive career as an opera singer and concert...

Jessica interviews Dominic Lim,  an author & singer & storyteller .  Dominic's debut novel ALL THE RIGHT NOTES, a queer Asian rom-com, will be released in June 2023. Dom is a member of The Writers Grotto and is a co-host of the Babylon Salon reading and performance series in San Francisco. He studied psychology at Oberlin and got his masters from Indiana University's Jacobs Schoo...

Jessica interviews Reichi Lee,  Youth Advocate & Fitness Coach, this week.  Not only is Reichi an incredible fitness coach, she's a former foster youth attorney and educator who's now running for the Berkeley School Board in November 2022. Straddling these worlds of personal fitness and public education, what brings it all together for Reichi is a deep belief that humans can defy lim...

This week, Jessica interviews David Riemer, a Startup Storyteller & Theater Producer who reminds Ampersands that when it comes to pursuing your dreams, you need to get out there and just do it!  David was Jessica's marketing mentor, and now he's graduated to being her life mentor.  David's business career has taken him from being the VP of Marketing at Yahoo! in its heyday to spendin...

Meika Ejiasi is a Digital Marketer at Google & Professional Photographer based in Oakland, CA. As a photographer, she's worked with brands like American Airlines, Target, Peloton, and Starbucks. She's equally at home doing portrait photography as she is styling that delicious dessert centerpiece photo that makes your mouth water. She holds a Master's in Business from the Fox School of Business...

Shuo Zhai - Architect & Singer & Pianist Shuo's a double Ampersand —  an architect working for Frank Gehry, AND a professional choral singer in the Los Angeles Master Chorale, AND an accomplished solo and collaborative pianist.  Jessica first got to know Shuo in college in the opera The Magic Flute, where he was the Papageno to Jessica's Pamina. A year later, he was Jessica's col...

What fuels a multi-passionate life?  In this podcast, I interview the most interesting people at the dinner party. These folks have led double-lives for decades and straddled two completely different worlds. For as long as I can remember, I've led a double-life of the practical and the creative. I've built a career in marketing for almost two decades. And now, I work as leadership and executi...