The Gray Matters

[Episode 12] Simon Boyle is a renowned chef, philanthropist, and founder of Beyond Food Foundation and Brigade Bar+Kitchen in London Bridge. Simon takes us back through his unusually creative culinary journey to becoming an award winning social entrepreneur. You’ll hear some entertaining stories about childhood in northern England where he would run home from school to bake and cook just to a...

Alastair Creamer takes us on a creative journey starting with his childhood in England and passion for music, up through his period working in the corporate world, which then ultimately led to his true calling – an expert in cultural transformation for both businesses and individuals. For the past 30 years, Alastair has been an inspiring advocate of change, working with companies and organizations...

Peter de Menocal is the eleventh president and director of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. In this episode you’ll hear about his amazing journey and distinguished career as Peter takes us back to that serendipitous moment he found his future in the sciences, by sheer happenstance while hitchhiking as a teenager from upstate NY down through coastal Massachusetts. Before that day, he’d never s...

Jim Kaat is a Hall of Fame baseball player whose pitching career in Major League Baseball spanned an unbelievable 25 years! Baseball fans will certainly enjoy listening to Jim as he nostalgically reflects on his steady rise from a small town in Michigan to the major leagues. But even if you aren't a big fan of the game, you’ll still appreciate his good nature and the strong values instilled i...

Michael Clinton, former president and publishing director of Hearst Magazine, shares some captivating insights and stories from his best selling book, ROAR into the second half of your life (Before It’s Too Late!).  People are living longer, and we should stop saying things like “getting older”, but instead say “living longer”. It’s a fact. Michael has the research and success stories of peop...

Dr. Michelle Barr is a successful Spiritual and Transformational Coach & Consultant who helps people turn their hobbies and passions into profitable businesses. With a Doctorate in Transformational Spiritual Coaching and a Masters in Counseling and Guidance, Michelle has been helping people transform their lives for more than 25 years. Ten of those years were spent as a therapist specializing...

Lisa Stewart is a successful Hollywood animation producer who grew up loving everything about the movies. She couldn’t get enough of them, and watched every old and new movie she could. This passion ultimately led her to Hollywood shortly after graduating from Stanford University, without any real plan, except her determination to work in the entertainment business. In fact, her only real contact...

John Weiss is a full-time artist, writer, and photographer. His elegant stories and essays about life, illustrated with his whimsical cartoons and classic black & white photography, are enjoyed by over 49,000 readers of his weekly newsletter, “ The Saturday Letters” . John was always an artist at heart, but he became a full-time artist in 2016 after 26 years in law enforcement. Not what you’d...

Kristen Coffield, Health & Wellness guru, has been teaching people how to use food and habits to live younger, longer and better for over two decades. And she is the founder of the successful business, The Culinary Cure since 2014. Kristen takes us through her passionate journey to healthy habits and happiness – where she is today. She opens up about having a charmed life for many years, until...

David Newsom, environmental activist, founder of the Wild Yards Project and master storyteller joins us in a passionate discussion about native habitats. After decades in the entertainment business, he’s found his true calling. Helping educate and restore what is native to your backyards, gardens, parks, really anywhere. And with a little research, patience, and environmental “love”, anyone can re...

Dana Stevens, successful Hollywood screenwriter, dreamed of being in the entertainment business since she was a young girl. Like many others, she thought her journey to Hollywood would be by way of acting, but soon found her other passion for writing was a better route, and really would get her to the creative place she wanted to be. She has always loved writing and telling stories, and truly beli...

[Episode 1] Nicole Cadoret is the opposite of a wallflower. She’s compassionate, empathetic, and outspoken when she believes something unjust is in desperate need of attention. When she locks in on something she believes in passionately, she becomes driven, a self described evangelical to make things better. Her drive was already well known as a graphic designer in NYC, when she was inflicted with...

[Episode 13] Guy Alma is a distinctive individual. Although we certainly had the pleasure of talking with him about his journey culminating at The Camphill School, we soon realized there was something bigger. We realized that we were talking to someone who is wholeheartedly doing what they were meant to do with their lives. He lives and breathes his work at The Camphill School. It's rare that any...

[Episode 12] Teresa Laughlin is a woman of many talents. She is an actress, a fashion designer, a photographer, a publicist, a sailor, a woodworker and she may even become a race car driver in the near future. Teresa is passionate about a variety of things but what we found amidst all of her interests is her overarching passion for the excitement of new activities and experiences. She loves to lea...

[Episode 11] Scott Harrington has found a way to make his passion do some good in his community. He is truly doing what he's been put on this earth to do. In this episode, Scott talks about his time as an educator and about his passion for woodworking particularly woodturning. There is a moment in the discussion where, in speaking about woodturning, Scott says he likes to bring out the beauty in w...

[Episode 10] Gary Allen is living life on his own terms and loving every minute of it. When we spoke with Gary about his passion for long distance running there was something else about his that became clear. There was something about Gary that was special, something that came before the long distance running and it struck us in one of the simplest things Gary said. Challenge yourself, test your l...

[Episode 9] Bill Bancroft has been called the "chef of wood" which is a weird and wonderful way to think of him. In this episode he talks with us about his passion for his art of furniture making. He admits he's matured in his craft over the years. It was especially interesting to hear him discuss the balance between utility and expression in his art.  Furniture design, in most cases, is func...

[Episode 8] Steven Wilson is still living those carefree days at the beach of his childhood. For him, that thrill of youth that we all feel is captured in his passion for surfing. Surfing became that connection, that path to happiness. Over the years, Steven has been able to carry that joy with him and although life is much different for him now than it was on the beach on Eastern Long Island in t...

[Episode 7] Mark Berman makes it all sound so easy. From that spark of learning his first two chords to becoming a renown pianist and composer, you realize in talking with him that his journey is the perfect example of the saying If you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life . While nothing in life worth doing is ever easy, Mark's positive attitude and energy have helped him endure...

[Episode 6] Elizabeth Turk’s creativity cannot be confined to the studio. This much was clear as we discussed her passion for her art and being an artist. Although she is well know for her work in marble sculpture, Elizabeth naturally sees creative opportunities all around her. If art is meant to connect people, her sculptures are only one way in which she attempt to foster those connections. Thos...

[Episode 5] Adam Reist always finds a way to make things happen. His story is one about perseverance and positivity. Those two traits, in combination, have allowed him to develop his passions into a personally fulfilling and meaningful career. His journey may not have been what he initially expected but he always found a path forward and more importantly has always stayed true to himself. You can...

[Episode 4] Josh Rose joins us to talk about his lifelong love of photography and how he's been able to build a career around doing what he loves. When you do what you love as a career, it forces you to approach each project from a business point of view. You apply your creativity as part of your business for the benefit of your clients. No one asks you why you do it, they are mainly interested in...

Rafael Ferrer talks about how his early influences, and his love of pinball, led him to develop a passion for lyrics and lyricists that he embraces to this day. Rafi, as his friends call him, talks about growing up in a creative family and how his interests have been shaped by being immersed in the entertainment industry. Where words have meaning and language has rhythm is where Rafi finds his pas...

Allan Karl shares his story about what inspired him to pursue his dream and accomplish something no man has ever done. In Allan’s words: “I will circumnavigate the globe alone from top to bottom, and all the way around.” For Allan, he chose to do this journey on his motorcycle, a single cylinder BMW F650GS Dakar . With a few important modifications to his bike and a packing list that grew shorter...

Jacqueline Porter  saw  The Nutcracker  at Lincoln Center at the age of 6 and she was hooked. In this episode Jaqueline discusses her journey as a dancer, performer, and ultimately a dance teacher. From her early days studying at the world-renowned Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, to moving to New York City at the young age of 17 with dreams of stage stardom, to founding The Dalla...