The Curious Middle

Ashira Solomon is an international Public Speaker and Member of The Quad, an Israeli show with 4 co-hosts covering  everything Israel and Jewish from the unique female perspective. In this  episode Ashira  a native of Livermore, California, takes us through her transformative journey that led her to embrace a new religion and to become an advocate of independent political thought in a world where...

We are thrilled to share part 2 of our podcast with Tough Titties author Laura Belgray . If you have years of your life you would prefer to forget, relationships or lifestyle choices that make you cringe when you look back at them, Laura will empower you to reframe your life story, and possibly share it with others. Tough Tittie is the stealth self-help book you didn't konw you needed. As Laura sa...

Dr. Ramani Durvasula,   the world's expert on narcissism, joins us for an overview on understanding, naming,and addressing narcissistic behavior, toxic relationships, and healing from narcissistic abuse. You may not know it, but chances are high that there is a narcissistic personality somewhere in your life. We discuss ways to identify narcissists, common personality traits and the need to accept...

The Zibbyverse, founded by Zibby Owens , includes the podcast Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books , and Zibby Media , which includes a publishing house, online magazine, Zibby's Bookshop in Santa Monica, CA, retreats, classes, and events. As a lifelong book lover who dreamed of becoming a writer, Zibby was over the moon excited when she was dubbed "NYC's Most Powerful Book-fluencer ". In our conver...

Sally Wolf is one of the most inspiring people we have talked to. If you don't believe us you can ask her classmates from her Stanford MBA program who voted her the "most inspiring" member of their class or her nephew who said she was the most positive person he knows. Sally spent two decades rising in the corporate sector in  the media industry working at NBCUniversal and Time Warner before a ser...

Shelby Stanger's f ormula is living life with adventure. When Shelby realized that adventure gave her energy, joy and confidence, she intentionally scheduled and prioritized adventure into her life. By choosing adventure, Shelby found love, a career she loved and a way to bring other people the same gifts. Shelby's book, Will to Wild, Adventures Great and Small to Change Your Life, shares what she...

Meet Lauren McGoodwin, the founder of Career Contessa . Lauren generously  shares the story of how she started her business, her motivation and how she built Career Contessa from an idea to the  leading career site for millennials offering career tips, career advice, job listings and career coaching.  Lauren shares her story of how she struggled to find her place after graduating from college, and...

As a lifelong book lover, author and book publisher, Andy Hunter knew he wanted to keep independent bookstores alive and thriving. Using his experience in the publishing industry, Andy had the audacity to come up with a successful idea for taking on Amazon.   Andy's idea was Bookshop.org, an online platform that   gives independent bookstores an easy to use, full service platform for selling books...

Valerie June is a force of beauty and a rising music star. In our conversation, Valerie shares when she started to sing and walks us through her song writing process. Valerie explains how songs mysteriously come to her through humming and chanting while she is living her life , washing dishes or simply walking in nature. We discuss Valerie's new book, Light Beams: A Workbook for Being Your Badass...

Honestly, do you wish you could write copy for a website or email that people actually wanted to read?   Imagine a future where you triple your earnings by learning how to write non sucky copy. In this future you, Laura Belgray is someone you want to know.   Laura's new book, Tough Titties, is a hilarious memoir where Laura shares her story, from her awkward teenage years to every major milestone...

We are certain that Kathy Caprino's authenticity about finding a career that feels right will resonate with your personal story and we guarantee you will be soothed by her advice and caring voice. Kathy is an internationally-recognized career, executive and leadership coach, trainer, writer, and speaker dedicated to supporting the advancement and success of women in business. In her role as a Seni...

If you want to expand the possibility of the type of work you can do beyond your day job, then  you must listen to this episode and learn about refugee advocate Dr. Michelle Dimasi. Michelle has worked on economic empowerment of women, unaccompanied asylum seeker minors and human rights for over a decade while living in Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and on Christmas Island, off the coast o...

Kristien Carbone's idea for Brilliantly Warm came from a deeply personal experience of having a preventative mastectomy. After the surgery, Kristen was surprised that she was always cold due to the implants. When Kristen realized she wasn't alone, and 75% of women face the coldness issue, she looked for a solution. Hand warmers didn't solve the problem, and there was nothing on the market that cam...

Diane Kahn is a teacher and co-founder of Humans of San Quentin , an organization seeking to break down the walls and stereotypes of prison life and to humanize the lives behind bars.  Diane was teaching inside San Quentin to help prisoners receive their high school diplomas when the idea for Humans of San Quentin was born. In our conversation, Diane shares the story of starting the organization a...

Janelle Kellman, Esq. is the Mayor of Sausalito, CA. In our conversation, we discuss Janelle's path from private practice as an environmental attorney in San Francisco to launching a successful e-commerce company and launching the Center for Sea Rise Solutions in 2021 to support the localization of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. Janelle's passion for teamwork was ignited and nurtured by a...

  Are you curious about the process of writing a speech for the President of the United States? During 2017 - 2019, Sarah Hurwitz was a White House speechwriter starting out as a senior speechwriter for President Barack Obama and then serving as head speechwriter for First Lady Michelle Obama. In our conversation, she shares what it was like to write speeches for the Obamas and the career path tha...

  If you want to learn more about how venture capital investing can change your life and the world, this episode is for you. Trish Costello is the founder and CEO of Portfolia , the leading venture investing platform designed for women.  Prior to Portfolia, Trish was a pioneer in creating programs to educate and prepare people for venture capital investing in the Kaufman Fellows Program. She led t...

From news reporting to Capitol Hill in various roles, then making a very intentional switch to working in San Diego where Holly Smithson ran CleanTECH San Diego and today as CEO of Athena , Holly has thrived in every role. As Holly shares in this podcast, everything that Holly has done and her success in each role comes from her intention, her desire to mobilize people toward a cause, and her inte...

When Christine Marsh was younger she wanted to change the world. If you consider high school teachers who change the lives of their students through their passion, enthusiasm and dedication to their work as people who have changed the world, Christine succeeded. Christine has taught high school English in Arizona for 30 years, and was named  Arizona's Teacher of the Year in 2016. After a repeated...

Alex Otte is Mother's Against Drunk Driving youngest National President. Alex got involved with MADD when she was hit by a boat driven by a drunk driver. Alex's injuries were life-threatening, severe and long lasting. Today, Alex is using her voice, her story and her passion to advocate for an end to drunk driving. While there is good news coming in 2026 about an almost complete reduction in drunk...

Katie Hood knows how to follow her instincts and heart when making major life decisions. Today, Katie is CEO of the One Love Foundation , the nation's leading educator of young people on the topic of healthy and unhealthy relationships.  Katie shares the reasons why she joined One Love and her ambitious goals for reducing abusive relationships. We discuss how One Love was founded by Sharon Love to...

BJ Miller is a  physician, author,  speaker,  practicing hospice and palliative medicine physician. In his current role, BJ sees patients and caregivers through Mettle Health, an online palliative care service. Previously,, BJ was the Executive Director of San Francisco's Zen Hospice Project. Most importantly, BJ is a deep, soulful thinker with extraordinary compassion and a true desire to help ea...

In our conversation Paige shares the inspiration for starting Naborforce and the lightbulb moment that gave her the idea for a business model and the confidence to make her idea a reality. Naborforce is an online platform that connects "nabors" to seniors requesting help for everyday tasks such as  household chores, groceries and  driving. "Nabors" get extra income and a meaningful way to connect...

Dr. Leana Wen, emergency physician, former health commissioner for Baltimore, professor of health policy and management, contributing columnist for  The Washington Post,  CNN medical analyst, and author shares stories from her new memoir, Lifelines: A Doctor's Journey in the Fight for Public Health. Dr. Wen has an incredibly inspiring immigrant story of struggle, sacrifice and tremendous achieveme...

There is no doubt that Christina Dorr Drake was meant to be a co-founder of Willa's Oat Milk . Christina grew up drinking her grandmother's special recipe of oat milk. When Christina and her sister, Elena Dorr Zienda, realized the market was missing an oat milk that was both delicious and nutritious, like the one they had as kids, they saw the opportunity and went for it. Christina and Elena decid...