The Last Zebra

What if everything you've been taught about money... is backwards? Andrea Ewalefo, Founder and CEO of Modern Lady Vibes, believes many of us are following financial advice that was never designed for the lives we're living today. In this episode, we explore why money often feels like a source of stress instead of freedom, why paying off debt isn't always the smartest financial move, and why focusi...

Is buying a home still the American Dream—or has the market changed the rules? Mike Domangue, Senior Mortgage Loan Officer, breaks down what today’s housing market means for buyers, from interest rates and rising insurance costs to affordability, debt, and the future of homeownership. Are 3% mortgage rates coming back? Should you wait to buy? How much house can you really afford? Mike shares why h...

What happens when the food you grew up on finally gets the recognition it deserves? For Chef Serigne Mbaye, Executive Chef and Co-Owner of Dakar NOLA, it’s been a lifelong journey. Raised between Harlem and Senegal, his earliest kitchen was his mother’s restaurant—and later, their home. At five, he moved to Senegal. He returned to the U.S. as a teenager without English, working by day, studying by...

What if we could understand hearing damage before it becomes permanent? For Dr. Marcus Brown, that question sits at the intersection of engineering, medicine, research, and entrepreneurship. A biomedical engineer and co-founder of Oto-Biomechanics, Dr. Brown has spent years studying how sound, pressure, and blast exposure affect one of the most intricate machines in the human body: the ear. His wo...

Most people think a 20-week ultrasound is about finding out whether they're having a boy or a girl. Dr. Celeste Sheppard wants to change that. A maternal-fetal medicine specialist, perinatologist, and founder of the Tiny Hearts Project, Dr. Sheppard has dedicated her career to solving one of the biggest blind spots in prenatal care: congenital heart disease. It's the most common birth defect, yet...

When most people think of heart surgery, they think of dramatic operations and life-or-death moments. Dr. Brian Pettiford sees something different. He sees an opportunity to diagnose cancer earlier, treat it with less pain, and give patients a chance to go home just days later with their disease already behind them. As one of the Gulf South's leading cardiothoracic surgeons, Dr. Pettiford has spen...

Calvin Carr thought success looked like wearing a suit and working on Wall Street. Instead, he ended up building a marketing agency called Trash Marketing. In this conversation, we trace Calvin’s journey from growing up in Portland, Maine, to studying economics and finance at Tulane, working at some of the largest advertising agencies in the world, helping scale venture-backed startups, and ultima...

Murray Morella didn’t start out as an elite endurance athlete. In fact, there was a point in his life when he was overweight, unhealthy, struggling with bad habits, and questioning the direction of his career. One day, after walking up a flight of stairs and feeling unexpectedly short of breath, he realized something had to change. That moment set him on a path that would transform every area of h...

Dr. Oksana Nimkevych came to the United States with a six-month-old baby, spent 18 months studying for Step 1 in a library after Katrina, and built a life in medicine from the ground up. Now she’s a nephrologist, practice owner, mountain climber, and one of the most honest voices we’ve had on the podcast about burnout, wellness, and what modern medicine is getting wrong. In this conversation, we t...

What does it really take to become a surgeon… and stay one? In this episode of *The Last Zebra*, I sit down with Dr. Barton Wax, a hand surgeon whose journey didn’t follow a straight line. It took him three attempts to get into medical school. Years of grueling training. Moments of doubt, failure, and questioning whether it was all worth it. And yet—he stayed the course. This conversation goes dee...

What happens when you spend years building a career that looks perfect on paper… but doesn’t feel right anymore? In this episode of The Last Zebra, Dr. Effie Richardson shares a journey that doesn’t follow the script. Board-certified anesthesiologist. Managing Director and co-owner of Dakar NOLA. A woman who has lived at the intersection of medicine, identity, and reinvention. We talk about what i...

What does it really mean to “put someone to sleep”? For Dr. Omotore Eruvwetere, it’s not just a procedure—it’s a moment of trust, fear, and responsibility… all happening in minutes. From getting rejected from medical school—more than once—to becoming a board-certified pediatric anesthesiologist, her journey wasn’t linear. And when she finally got there, she realized something most people never see...

There are some stories that sound too surreal to be real — until you hear them from someone who lived every second of it. In this episode of The Last Zebra Podcast, Dr. Jay Miller shares the unbelievable story of getting stranded in Doha after missile attacks disrupted airspace in the Middle East, turning what should have been a routine trip home into a fight to get back to New Orleans. From a pla...

So much of life is spent chasing outcomes. The promotion. The title. The win. The moment you think will finally make everything feel worth it. But what if getting there isn’t what changes you? In this episode of The Last Zebra Podcast, I sat down with Steve Mellor — high-performance executive coach, founder of GrowthReady, former elite swimmer, former LSU swim coach, and author of Shock the World....

Most heart attacks don’t start in the cath lab. They start years earlier. In this episode of The Last Zebra, I sit down with Dr. Vinod Nair — interventional cardiologist and one of the most experienced operators in South Louisiana — to talk about what really saves lives in cardiology. We discuss: • What actually happens during a stent procedure • Why some patients are turned down for bypass — and...

Most of us grew up watching rocket launches on TV. Matthew Melerine grew up to help build them. In this episode of The Last Zebra, I sat down with Matthew — a New Orleans native and aerospace engineer who literally puts things in space. From working at NASA’s Stennis Space Center to helping move spacecraft in orbit, his job comes down to one simple (and wild) description: “I’m basically a rocket p...

He thought he was going to play professional soccer. Instead, he ended up restoring sight. In this episode of The Last Zebra, I sit down with Dr. Jonathan Carrere, a board-certified ophthalmologist from South Louisiana, to unpack a journey that’s equal parts unexpected and extraordinary. We talk about how a childhood dream of playing for Arsenal slowly gave way to medicine, why ophthalmology wasn’...

What does it mean to follow in your parent’s footsteps — and truly earn it? In this episode of The Last Zebra , I sit down with Dr. Joey Garcia , a Sports Medicine Physician born and raised in South Louisiana, whose journey into medicine was shaped by grit, persistence, and one defining moment that changed everything. Joey quite literally grew up in the hospital — coloring at the nurses’ station,...

What happens when your first language is movement? In this episode of The Last Zebra , Dr. Ugo Ezema sits down with Annelise Senkowski —a lifelong dancer turned medical device professional who’s helping push the conversation forward in lung cancer early detection . From starting dance at three years old , to leaving home at 14 for a rigorous arts boarding school, Annelise shares what it takes to d...

What happens when the system meant to protect our most vulnerable ends up failing them? In this powerful episode of The Last Zebra Podcast, Dr. Sebastian Del-Corral Winder - Clinical Psychologist and expert in infant and early childhood mental health - breaks down the realities of the U.S. foster care system with honesty, clarity, and compassion. He explains how the system’s origins are rooted in...

What does it take to reclaim a dream you were told to abandon? In this remarkable episode, Dr. Brittney Carman shares her decades-long journey from a 16-year-old who fell in love with medicine on a pediatric oncology floor to a mother, writer, professor, and finally a physician who started medical school at 42 years old. Raised in a culture where higher education wasn’t encouraged and where religi...

In this powerful episode of The Last Zebra Podcast, Bivian “Sonny” Lee III, Founder & CEO of Son of a Saint, sits down with Dr. Ugo Ezema to share how losing his father at age three shaped his purpose and inspired him to help fatherless boys in New Orleans find guidance, family, and belonging. What started as a simple mission, to mentor boys growing up without dads, has become one of the city’...

Stacy Ann Smith — therapist, nonprofit founder, and survivor — joins The Last Zebra Podcast to share a story of faith, forgiveness, and fierce compassion. From surviving childhood trauma to dedicating her life to helping women trapped in cycles of abuse, sex work, and human trafficking, Stacyann’s journey is one of purpose born from pain. What began as a trip to Indonesia turned into a calling tha...

Kevin Thompson — Marine veteran, husband, father, and optimist — joins The Last Zebra Podcast for an unforgettable conversation about resilience, leadership, and finding purpose beyond the uniform. After nearly twenty years in the U.S. Marine Corps, Kevin reflects on the moments that shaped him — from growing up in Atlanta to surviving combat in Iraq, raising a family while serving overseas, and l...

From a small town in Ecuador to the ICUs of New Orleans, Dr. Diana Espinoza’s story is one of courage, resilience, and discovery. 🇪🇨💙 In this episode of The Last Zebra, Dr. Espinoza sits down with Dr. Ugo Ezema to share her remarkable journey—from studying medicine at 17, to moving to the U.S. without knowing English, to finding purpose in Pulmonary and Critical Care during the pandemic. Through...