What's Your "And"?

We did it! I can't believe it's been a year already since we started this journey of turning the definition of "stereotypical" professional upside down. Thank you so much to everyone for listening. Thank you so much to everyone for sharing this podcast with their friends. And thank you so much to everyone who has done the anonymous research survey that's helping support the theory in my book. In t...

Seth David started hiking to the top of Griffith Park as a way to exercise because it was much more interesting than going to a gym. Then he realized that talking with clients and other small business owners while hiking was much more fun than just meeting in a restaurant, so every Saturday morning he would invite others to join him using the #AccountingHike hashtag. In this episode, we talk about...

Eric Johnson didn't get his first set of golf clubs until he was in college. He never really took golf seriously until several years later when some coworkers invited him to play a round at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Portland, OR. "Now this is fantastic… I want to do more of this!" was his immediate thought. In this episode, we talk about how amazing golf has been for Eric's relationship building,...

Henry Lawson has always been fascinated with cars and anything with an engine, really. He's built 3 cars and restored countless others, including a 1902 MMC and a 1969 Dodge Charger. In this episode, we talk about how work can easily become all-consuming if we let it. Henry reminds us all that it is acually a marathon and not a sprint, so managers can't expect everyone to run at sprinting speed al...

Julie (Jules) Carman has always been a runner, like good enough to earn a Track & Field scholarship to Cal for running 200's kind of runner. There are things she learned running that carry over directly to her career, things that she feels you can't get anywhere else: resilience, mental strength, proper mindset and discipline. Running also made Jules comfortable being uncomfortable, allowing her t...

Shortly after starting at Hodges-Mace, one of the salespeople told Ron Shah that he's "not the typical CFO" simply because he brought his personality to work with him. In the same way that he does in the office, Ron brings his personality to being the play-by-play announcer at his son's high school football games. So much so, by his third game, people were noticing how much fun he was having in th...

A t the age of 22, Vinh Giang decided not fulfill the Asian prophecy and become an accountant, so he took a slightly different path and pursued a career as a magician. Since then he's won multiple awards for magic shows, he's a successful international keynote speaker and runs a video production company in Australia called Luminary. Being a magician, speaker, and a director all have one thing in c...

If someone were to ask where Joseph Rugger was right now, you're best guess would be one of our glorious National Parks. He's been to almost all of them, from Acadia in Maine to the White Sands in New Mexico –driving his Prius all over the country. He created a bucket list of places he'd like to visit all over the world and is quickly checking them off as he does his CFO work virtually. In this ep...

Greg Papineau takes service to a whole new level, especially now that he's a Deacon in the Catholic Church. He was first called to this in 2000 as a chaperone on his son's World Youth Day visit to the Vatican. Since then, he's been ordained and in his words, can "marry, bury and baptize". And, oh yeah, he also happens to be the 1989 Colorado State Champion Cyclist. In this episode, we talk about h...

Amy Cooper loves Auburn football. And she loves teaching accounting at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Combining the two has let her give the most important lesson — professionals can be successful while also sharing their passions at work. There isn't a student in her Fall Semester classes that doesn't know who Auburn is playing the next weekend. In this episode, we talk about the public perc...

Scott Gehman grew up camping in New Jersey but college and starting his career caused him to put that passion on hold for many years. He's also always been obsessed with loud, fast cars. Now that his son is a Boy Scout, he's able to combine the two as he loads up his Mustang GT to spend a weekend camping. In this episode, we talk about how important it is to be willing to share, no matter how smal...

Maya really likes chocolate. No, I mean really likes it. It all started when she was in college and a chocolate fudge brownie a la mode sundae made her lose track of time and space as she was in total flow with that moment in time. And now she uses chocolate to start client meetings, which brings everyone together and also puts them in a great mood. She also actively participates in chocolate fest...

Mike says that he isn't good at it but he really enjoys playing the guitar. He finds that concentrating on something other than work allows him to disconnect and gives him a release to come back to the office refreshed. He also likes to be outdoors hiking, which he says is also a fun way to have a business meeting, creating a "remember when" experience with clients or coworkers that creates strong...

Andrew Tarvin is a funny guy and is well-known nationally within the ComedySportz improv world. He also does stand-up comedy -- his first paid gig was opening for Pauly Shore. A few years ago, he left his Project Manager position with Procter & Gamble to start Humor That Works to show corporations across the world how humor can enhance their bottom line. In this episode, we talk about how he reali...

Belicia Cespedes loves tennis. She also happens to be the youngest person to ever pass the CPA Exam (at age 17). Professionalism would tell her that the latter is most important for her career but she has found a great deal of success creating coworker connections through tennis, even teaching some of her PwC co-workers how to play. And her competitive side comes out during the table tennis tourna...

Joe Fleenor is crazy about triathlons. He only started participating in them seven years ago but all of his coworkers and clients know this is one of his passions. Running was boring, so he needed three sports rolled up into one so it could help keep his attention. In this episode, we talk about how if he didn't bring his personal life to the workspace, he'd be miserable. He's seen too many people...

Looking at Mary Yetto, it might not be obvious that she loves to be outdoors. She's an avid hunter and also a veteran kickball player, both of which have helped her create stronger connections both in the office and with clients. Being an ethical hunter and using patience are skills that directly translated over to her auditing career. In this episode, we talk about how much pressure if on the man...

Evan Hackel loves skiing. So much so that he says it's more than a passion -- it's an addiction. He averages 60-80 days on the slopes each season, skiing all over the world. In addition to being a successful businessman who has started more than 10 companies in his career, Evan is also the Head Coach for the Mexican Freestyle Ski Team. In this episode, Evan talks about how learning to ski is simil...

When Edie Gardner turned 40, she set a goal to have an experience in all 50 states over the next ten years. Mission accomplished! The stories she shares from driving through the snowy mountains in Colorado, to visiting Cracker Barrel in Tennessee, to Mount Rushmore, all helped her create stronger relationships with her clients. In this episode, we talk about how important bucket lists are and how...

Jen started juggling in middle school and hasn't stopped since, now teaching corporate audiences to be more balanced and productive. She took the balancing act literally as she spent several years performing juggling shows at night while working as a structural engineer in New York City. You can catch Jen as she tours nationally as a speaker, educator and host that has been on The Late Show with D...

Ruth Ross learned how to play poker at age 10 from her father. Little did she realize that it would give her the skills to develop into a Human Resources executive. Combined with her love of travel, she's played poker all over the world — from Las Vegas to Monte Carlo. In this episode, Ruth talks about how poker gives her the ability to work on her "gut instinct" to read others, which is often ver...

Kelly Richmond Pope is on a mission to show what an accountant is not. She's shattering the stereotype of an accounting professor by continuously looking for new ways to keep students engaged by learning with different media. Her latest project is a feature documentary All the Queens Horses about the largest municipal fraud in U.S. history. In this episode we talk about how important it is to tell...

Rebecca Berneck likes to go fast. Really fast. Land speed record holder fast. All on a vintage motorcycle. And when she's not doing that, Rebecca road races competitively throughout the country. In this episode, we talk about how she's incorporated this into her business at Officeheads — from her website pictures to the quotes on her office walls. When talking with clients, she parallels their com...

Christine trains her way to better connections This year, Christine DeAngelis will complete a half marathon and several obstacle course races, including the Bone Frog Challenge and Spartan Trifecta. Those names alone intimidate me enough to not even want to sign up. But Christine is going to do them all as part of her newfound appreciation for fitness and healthy living after having her daughter a...