What's Your Story?

Reginald Green, Regional Vice President - Primerica Financial Services, was one of two kids from his neighborhood to attend college. Coming from a family of CPAs, he saw the lifestyle they were able to achieve and set his sights on following in a similar path to achieve his own success. Throughout his journey, he has continued to realize the importance of relationships and ultimately that working...

Sharon Lee Thony & Raman Sehgal, co-hosts of Modern Minority podcast, grew up with opposite experiences as it relates to the make up of their surrounding culture. However,  they both share experiences in this episode of feeling like you are in a foreign land.  We also dive into a parents corner discussion where we explore our different approaches to raising multi-racial children and how we eac...

Dr. Christina Villarreal, Executive Leadership Coach and Professor of Psychology at UC Berkeley, has successfully navigated her journey from a small town of 3500 people in Oregon to helping leaders of fast scaling starters overcome challenges faced in Silicon Valley. She shares how she was able to do this through incrementally building her career with a focus on mental flexibility and remaining cu...

Lauren Madlock, Clinical Psychologist at Kaiser Mental Health and Wellness, credits growing up in Memphis with showing her the breadth of experiences that make up being Black. She shares multiple pivotal moments of representation that reinforced her appreciation for being Black and recalls many of the specific individuals that made an impact on her journey. She gives her perspective on the educati...

Marco Hardie, Head of Industry at Google, spent the first two decades of life making decisions based on football. After realizing his journey was not headed to the NFL, he used the skills collected to pivot his focus towards being a great people leader and business leader. In this episode, Marco shares the parallels between leading teams on the field and leading in the business world. He also spea...

Nina Woodruff-Walker is a product of her father's resourceful southern roots and her mother's east cost grit. While on her path to become a VP in technology sales, she was presented with an opportunity to become the Executive Director of Museum of Children's Art...an organization she grew up with as a youth in Oakland. While it wasn't in her plan, she realized it was the role s...

LT and J Hilton have set out to help people make meaningful contributions to doing good. This dynamic married couple connects artists and creatives with movements from change agents to ultimately drive more good in the world. They share more details on one of their current campaigns, Vote with Love, that is designed to grow empathy in our communities and help voters prepare to cast a more thoughtf...

Following a pivotal moment as a 6 yr old when he and his two brothers (8, 3) were left stranded by their mother hundreds of miles away from their closest family member, Kevin Carroll developed an "I'll show you" mentality that would serve him well in life. Thanks to lessons learned on the playground and in the library, he built a unique career path as a translator in the Air Force,...

Ruben Harris, CEO of Career Karma, learned to trust his struggle and that he shouldn't ever feel bad as long as he always gives his best. This approach helped him to break into the tech space and raise over $2M for Career Karma, where career transitioners are matched to job training programs to get tech jobs in 3 to 12 months. He recommends understanding your purpose then collecting the skill...

Imani Cheers, PhD, learned about the struggle for freedom at a very early age. Following her youth in which she was surrounded by black leadership and black excellence including her father's coverage of Jesse Jackson's presidential runs, she attended high school in a post-apartheid South Africa and met Nelson Mandela when she was 15 yrs old. Her exposure to the power of media to drive en...

Saneel Radia, Chief Innovation Officer for R/GA, looks back on balancing his Indian life with his non-Indian life growing up in San Antonio, Texas. He recalls memorable moments from sharing his aspirations of a career in advertising with his father (who responded with "What type of engineering is that?") to the feeling of being recognized by his industry heroes as he was inducted into th...

Megan Ming Francis, PhD, was raised knowing that she would grow up in a color based society by her Chinese mother and Jamaican father. Her connection with two black professors in undergrad set her career on its trajectory to be a leading academic voice in civil rights, politics and capitalism. She also understood the responsibility of using her acquired power to help make systems more equitable fo...

Asking "Why Not?" has proven to guide Dan Gould's professional and personal journey. Dan, Senior Portfolio Manager with TIAA, FSB, recognized that his community while successful and diverse did not have an intricate understanding of finances so he decided to unlock that world for his community. Dan also shares the importance of a team approach to overcome any unconscious bias or lac...

Words can sow an idea into someone's life journey from an early age. This happened to Brandon Roberts, MD, when someone told him he should be a doctor. Without even knowing what it would take to do it, Brandon took the thought and saw it through to fruition in his own life and now seeks to plant similar seeds in the next generation of leaders. Brandon also shares what it was like winning the...

Being his true self from the start of his career, Shaun Koiner, SVP Publishing at DAZN, built confidence through finding ways to contribute value to his organizations at each stage of his career. He even went as far as to recommend to the Time Inc. board that they should buy a little social media company called Facebook. His approach helped him build mutually beneficial relationships that have cre...

Coming of age in Little Rock, Arkansas during the 80s, Michael Craig, Marketing Executive, developed a capability to operate in chaos while being comfortable in his own skin simultaneously. This skill set enabled him to change careers after a decade of engineering to the marketing industry where he has worked on multiple global brands and developed Super Bowl commercials. Michael shares that the c...

Matt shares his own personal feelings on the recent incidents involving Christian Cooper in Central Park and the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis along with the nationwide response. He touches on a few of the historical contributing factors that have led to this point in time. Lastly, he gives his suggestions for what we can do to make a difference in our communities.  Follow the pod: IG - h...

Frank William Miller Junior, creative director and marketing designer, has always wanted to get a job in the kitchen of his favorite restaurants. Not because he has an interest in the culinary arts but instead so he could learn how to perfect his favorite dish and then move on to his next creative outlet. Growing up as a military kid created an impermanence that removed his fear of taking risks wh...

Growing up is difficult enough but imagine growing up feeling like you have to choose which part of your ethnic background to identify. This was the experience for Gia Altreche, Director of Business Development and Marketing at Newmeyer & Dillion LLP., growing up in Phoenix, AZ. She also shares how your perceptions of reality can be more limiting than the actual reality you are facing if you a...

Johnathan Goree, MD, Director of the Chronic Pain Division and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, has seen first hand the opportunities created by the power of Black Excellence in his own life. The Arkansas Physician of the Year gives the story behind his calling to help solve the public health emergency around opioid addi...

Moving to Atlanta, Georgia and being surrounded by a community of African American leaders had a lasting impact on Eugene Hillsman, PhD, Deputy Director in the Office of Cannabis for the City and County of San Francisco. In this episode, Eugene shares how he learned the importance of being open to opportunities and taking risks helped shape his career. Eugene also discusses the need to engage in c...

Welcome to the pod. In this kick-off episode, Matt shares how the transition from Detroit, Michigan to Evansville, Indiana completely changed his understanding of his identity. He also touches on finding and understanding the importance of his voice within his career journey. Lastly he shares what he hopes listeners take away from this podcast series.  Follow the pod: IG - https://www.instagram.co...