Wise Up with OpenWater

As artificial intelligence takes on more of the work we've traditionally been paid to do, where does that leave experienced professionals? Technology entrepreneur, author, and AI advisor David Siegel joins Wise Up to explore how AI is reshaping knowledge work, and why the greatest opportunity may lie not in doing our existing jobs faster, but in scaling our experience to become “engineers” of our...

What if changing direction doesn’t require reinventing yourself at all? Executive and leadership coach Michele Margolin joins Wise Up to challenge some of our assumptions about career change, success, and what it means to keep evolving throughout our adult lives. Drawing on her own nonlinear journey from law to coaching, Michele argues that the goal isn’t to become someone different—it’s to bring...

After nearly 30 years as an HR executive, Carolyn Moore is building a very different next chapter centered on wine and bringing people together. Carolyn joins Wise Up to talk about turning a longtime interest into genuine expertise, launching a new business after 50, and discovering that reinvention doesn’t necessarily require leaving everything you’ve already built behind. We cover topics includi...

Grief shows up at work in more ways than we may realize. It can follow the death of someone we love, but it can also come with divorce, health challenges, organizational change, the departure of a valued colleague, or the accumulation of smaller “micro losses” that change our experience of work. Leadership consultant and author Patricia Bravo joins Wise Up to explore what it means to build greater...

AI can answer legal questions, draft contracts and even pass part of the bar exam. But as international legal advisor and tech founder Matti Neustadt explains, good legal counsel starts somewhere else: understanding a client’s business, goals and risks well enough to identify the questions they should be asking, not only answering the ones they bring to the table. In this episode, Matti explores h...

After 36 years in human resources and decades working with senior leaders, Jeff Jacobs has learned that many of the obstacles holding us back come down to something surprisingly basic: our reluctance to have honest conversations with each other—and ourselves. In this episode, Jeff shares lessons from his corporate career, his own professional setbacks, and a decade working with incarcerated men to...

What if financial planning isn’t really about money? In this episode, I speak with Certified Financial Planner (CFP), educator, and author Carmen Ortiz about why traditional approaches to wealth often leave people feeling unfulfilled—even when they have more than enough. Drawing on nearly four decades of experience and her own journey beyond conventional financial planning, Carmen introduces her T...

Artificial intelligence can make us faster, more productive, and more efficient. But what happens when we start outsourcing not just our work—but our judgment? In this episode, I speak with strategist and creative leader Carl Loeb about the growing risk of "cognitive surrender" and how professionals can use AI without losing the uniquely human capabilities that create real value. Drawing on resear...

What if the biggest threat to your business performance isn't market conditions, competition, or technology—but the gradual decline of your own capacity? In this episode, I speak with entrepreneur, coach, and former competitive athlete Denis Champagne about the connection between physical strength, mental resilience, personal alignment, and long-term success. Drawing on more than 35 years in busin...

What if the real secret to business development isn’t selling at all, but building genuine, friction-free relationships over time? In this episode, I speak with entrepreneur, implementation expert, and self-described “superconnector” Sharon Schanzer about the hidden mechanics of networking, execution, and sustainable business growth. Drawing on decades of experience spanning design, technology, co...

What if the fastest path to growth isn’t chasing new revenue, but improving the profitability already inside your business? In this episode, I speak with operations executive and cost optimization advisor Jeff Peduto about why cost optimization should be treated as a strategic growth lever—not just a reactive cost-cutting exercise. Drawing on decades of experience leading operational transformatio...

What if your organization’s margin challenges, client churn, or execution gaps aren’t operational problems at all, but leadership ones? In this episode, I speak with executive coach and fractional leader Jared Koesten about how aligning people, process, and strategy unlocks measurable business performance. Drawing on decades as a global CHRO and advisor to CEOs, Jared shares a practical framework...

Search funds may be one of the best-kept secrets in alternative investing. In this episode, I speak with veteran venture capitalist Jon Staenberg, managing partner of the Agate Hound Fund — the world’s first fund of funds dedicated to this asset class. We explore how search funds empower young entrepreneurs to buy and grow small businesses, why the model has delivered outsized returns for decades,...

Of the three major disciplines in global health, public health is both the least visible and the least well-funded. And yet, effective public health practices are critical to alleviating and even avoiding major health crises (think pandemics). In this episode, I chat about the future of public health with Dr. Jay Varma, who has led public health programs around the world for the past two decades....

How can mid- and late- career professionals break the mold that ageism and other cultural forces try to force us into? Could the OpenWater community play the modern role of a fractional Oracle of Delphi? In a fascinating and wide-ranging conversation, Karl Stewart shares wisdom acquired through a varied career spanning mathematics, dance, acting, HR management and leadership coaching.  We explore...

Every caterpillar goes through an incredibly messy transformation inside its chrysalis –  reduced to goo before eventually emerging as a beautiful butterfly. But this only happens once in their lifetime.  What about adults in mid-life or mid-career? How many periods of messy change might we encounter and endure during our lifetimes, and how can we emerge as transformed and beautiful as a butterfly...

Just a few weeks ago, the entire energy grid in Spain and Portugal went dark. This wasn’t the result of malicious activity, it was the consequence of one malfunction in a hugely complex and interoperable system built over several decades. Our world is full of interoperable systems for communications, energy and other elements of critical infrastructure. So how do we monitor these systems, manage t...

We’re all familiar with stories of brand successes and failures, but what should you do when that brand is your own? In a fun and informative discussion with brand and marketing leader Karen Rose Sommerich , we discussed the moments in your organization’s growth when brand thinking can matter most. Some of the topics covered in this podcast include: • How shift from a mindset of Product Market Fit...

There are a lot of technologies out there to improve the skills of doctors. But TruHealer, which is coming out of stealth, aims to use mixed reality headsets to help doctors improve their bedside manner. Founder Dave Lin talks about how TruHealer's approach creates lifelike patient scenarios, but sets them in your real environments (not virtual ones) and allows you to interact with other medical p...

Conflict, especially in the workplace, is something many of us like to avoid. But avoidance does not lead to resolution. Today's guest is Dr. Angela Nelson, an attorney and certified coach who helps individuals and teams work through their conflict issues.  Nelson uses an assessment tool called the Conflict Dynamics Profile, which helps people identify how they respond to conflict in various situa...

It’s probably safe to say that most of us want to be empathetic. And it’s also probably safe to say that most of us want empathetic leaders in the workplace. It’s not just about being nice. Fostering empathy in the workplace can boost productivity and positively impact the bottom line. This week’s guest is Patricia Bravo, Founder of The Empathetic Leader . In this chat, Patricia breaks down what e...

Sleep. Everybody needs it. 1 in 3 adults don't get enough of it. Megan Mazzocco has written a book on it called Sleep System: 28 Days to Better Sleep. In it, she uses design thinking when thinking about sleep. In this interview, we cover: Examining all our sensory inputs before we go to bed What the glymphatic system is, and why it's so important Things you can do right now to help improve your sl...

If you've ever dreamed of having a home in the south of France, then fractional ownership might be for you. Dewey "Don" Spradlin has been a real estate broker for forty years and recently launched Joie de Vivre Homes, a new service that helps people buy partial ownership of French homes. This isn't a time share, you are a part owner of the property. It can get pretty complex pretty quick, especial...

This is a special edition of the Wise Up! Podcast. We had such a great chat with Phyl Terry about job searching that we wanted to include it in our regular podcast feed. Take a listen, you won't regret it.  Looking for a job sucks. That’s why Phyl Terry says you should never search for one alone. Phyl is the author of  Never Search Alone: The Job Seeker’s Playbook , and founder of the Job Search C...

As Executive Coach and fractional software leader, Jossie Haines explains it, a “portfolio career” is similar to consulting — but it allows you to pursue many of your interests instead of just focusing on one. Portfolio careers offer mix of project and fractional work across your skills and passions. But this path isn’t for everyone! In this interview, we discuss: -What makes a portfolio career -H...