The Impossible Network

Christian Baujard, President of the French Ad Agency Les Présidents is this week's guest.  As my second Storyteller guest, his story intersects with mine back in the late 90s and early 2000s when we worked together in London at an Ad agency called EURO RSCG Wnek Gosper.  During this period working on the Microsoft account, I grew to respect Christian for his laconic and irreverent humor,...

TLDR edition - If you're short on time and still want to hear some of the strategies, insights, and actions being implemented by Karl Popham's transportation electrification team, then here are 7-minutes of soundbites  If you do have the time, on a run, cycle, or drive, check out the full episode. Now over to Karl . About Karl I would describe Karl as a domain expert in change management. Kar...

Karl Popham is a domain expert in change management. Karl leads the EV and Emerging Technologies team at Austin Energy and is making significant progress in the transition away from fossil fuel dependency through a holistic transportation electrification strategy. We Discuss Karl’s early journey in life ( 2.00 - 4.00) His Education and joining the military (4.00 - 7.00) Developing an early interes...

Tomorrow’s pod drop is my first domain expert interview. My guest is Karl Popham - he’s an expert in change management, electric vehicles, and Emerging Technologies. Karl and his team at Austin Energy are making impressive progress in transitioning from fossil fuel dependency through a holistic transportation electrification strategy. After seeing Karl speak at Electrify Expo in Austin was keen to...

TLDR alert - If you're short on time and still want to hear some of the gems of wisdom and inspiring actions of female powerhouse Katz Kiely then here is 7-minutes of soundbites  If you do have the time, on a run, cycle, or drive, check out the full episode.  About Katz Katz is an award-winning digital pioneer, transformation leader, and systems thinker. She has a proven track record of...

Katz Kiely Katz is an award-winning digital pioneer, transformation leader, and systems thinker. She has a proven track record of delivering strategic cultural and operational programs that have led to measurable improvements in Employee Experience, employer brand, and operational efficiency. She has supported some of the world’s traditional organizations through change, including the first Open I...

Here are seven minutes of soundbites from my storyteller series of interviews with guest Jennifer Hutchins - award-winning Hollywood TV and film producer and now Austin-based Founder of All Entertainment Business, the fast-growing entertainment industry networking event series.  Social Links  Austin Entertainment Business  Jennifer Hutchins site Linkedin   Instagram  Twitt...

Jennifer Hutchins - award-winning Hollywood TV and film producer and now Austin-based Founder of All Entertainment Business, the fast-growing entertainment industry networking event series.  Key sections Jennifer’s reason for pivoting from Journalism to Hollywood to tell stories   The rollercoaster ride of working and competing in Hollywood,  Breaking her neck and ribs in a car...

It’s been 7 months since our last drop and four years since I began the podcast. So before season 5 kicks off, I wanted to explain the changes to the type of guests we will interview and the outcomes we are hoping to effect.  Back in July last year, I paused the podcast, and during this hiatus, I worked with creative elder, coach, mentor, and award-winning ex-ad guy, Paul ‘Nobby’ Davies...

To say that Robert Hansen, aka RSnake is a man of impact is an understatement.  Robert is on a journey to positively impact a billion lives and to leave the plant slightly better than when he arrived.  This is a long episode, but it’s an important one for anyone concerned about the threats and risks we face in today’s world.  We cover:  Robert’s serendipitous start to developin...

Dina Lovinsky is a Russian-born, SF-based writer. She is also the ghostwriter of the recent NYT and WSJ bestseller Tony Fadell’s, Build - An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making. This is a fun episode.   We discuss  Dina discusses being born in St Petersburg, Russia before moving to the US and growing up in Boston. Being conditioned by her parents with a sense of invincibi...

​​Negar Tayyar is a philanthropic refugee rights advocate, life coach, and co-founder and director of the Global Whole Being Fund (GWBF), an international fund supporting the humanitarian and long-term needs of forcibly displaced people.  We cover a lot in this episode from Negar’s early memories of growing up in Iran, her parents being civil rights activists, which resulted in them fleeing I...

Born and raised in Venice Italy, Matteo Vianello is a Creative and Design leader who has led an extraordinary and varied life channeling his curiosity and expressing his rich creative talent in building brands, launching products, and designing high-performing teams, from design companies to global ads agencies to silicon valley start-ups.  Key discussion points:  Matteo discusses the im...

Chris Debiec is an award-winning writer/producer/executive with a thirty-plus-year track record of producing film and tv series, working with icons across all aspects of the entertainment industry. Chris recently moved from LA to Austin, and as a result of a serendipitous connection, we sat down to discuss his insights and experiences across his inspiring career. We cover a lot of ground in t...

This week's guest is Michael Plitkins, co-founder and Co-Der of Spatial Inc - the  Immersive Audio start-up that redefines the human experience by creating virtual soundscapes where you work, where you play, and where you stay.  In this interview, Michael takes us on a serendipitous journey through his life; a life defined by his willingness to embrace challenges, the courage to confront...

This week we have a follow-up to our recent interview with Sana Mustafa. When I interviewed Sana back in November 2021, we could not have imagined the Ukrainian refugee crisis.  So I wanted to hear Sana’s perspective as Director of Partnership and Engagement at Asylum Access, on the mass migration from Ukraine that has resulted from the Russian invasion and to understand the broader impaction...

From his inspiring film scores, and globally recognized audio branding to creating music as medicine, creativity through sound has powered Walter’s life journey. I met Walter at SXSW 2022,  through an old colleague from McCann NYC, on heading his inspiring story I had to interview him. Walter’s story is powered by his curiosity, creativity, and unwavering persistence. Also, we cover stri...

This week's guest is Sana Mustafa.  Although Sana’s moving story is bound up in the Syrian conflict, her journey, courage, fortitude, and the work she is doing in her role as Director of Partnership and Engagement at Asylum Access, force us to confront what is an anachronistic approach to dealing with displaced peoples, Sana is focused empower them with agency and help them retain their digni...

Guest overview Kathryn Finney defies norms, conventions, and stereotypes. For this powerhouse of a human, there is no glass ceiling. From epidemiologist to entrepreneur, to investor, author, and mentor,  Kathryn is changing what is considered possible for a generation of marginalized and underrepresented Black and LatinX entrepreneurs.  In this episode, recorded in two parts, we cover Th...

Guest Overview If you ever need to appreciate the positive influence and impact parents have on a child’s worldview and sense of self, look no further than this week's guest, social entrepreneur, Sebastián Martín.  In the first part of this interview, Sebastian discusses being born in Washington DC as the child of Chilean - Bolivian immigrant parents, growing up in the Bush era, in the wake o...

Sometimes circumstances beyond our control set us on a path we could never have conceived. This was the case for this week’s guest, social entrepreneur Natasha Freidus when during the Syrian refugee crisis in 2015, she witnessed the chaos of crisis response first hand. While most donate money and time, Natasha instead formed a tech start-up to match those in need with those able to give...

This week sees the return of one of our favorite and most popular guests, industrial designer Lucia DeRespinis.  With a career spanning seven decades, Lucia retired last year at the age of ninety-three. Now ninety-four Lucia was recently recognized for her outstanding contributions to Industrial design by the IDSA  - Industrial Designers Society of America.  Therefore we felt we nee...

This week's guest is native New Yorker Abby Lehman, a natural storyteller, connector, and social entrepreneur working at the intersection of community, government, and business. As a fourth-generation New Yorker, from a family of East European migrants, Abby is living evidence of the value and impact of immigration on a city and nation's success.  Abby explains how her social impact NGO, Phot...

This week's guest Michael McElroy is an actor, singer, musical director, educator, and founder of the Tony award-winning Broadway Inspirational Voices, the multi-racial gospel choir, 'united in changing lives through the power of music and service.’'  In this shorter than normal interview, Michael explains how being immersed in the fusion of gospel music, musical theatre, and R&B as a chi...

We’ve had to take an extended break in recent weeks due to moving home from New York to Austin Texas. However, we’re back now with Season 4 and some fabulous guests lined up in the coming weeks.  We kick off this season with an interview I did just before leaving NYC with fellow Brooklyn resident, Geof Rochester, a highly successful entrepreneur and respected thought leader and strategic advi...