Kickasspirational Podcast

Season 3, Episode 20: Adventure Sports Icon, Chris Mauro Helps Us Think About Where We Get Our News and How to Pivot.

Chris Mauro is back for round two!!! He has spent his life entwined with surfing and adventure sports as a top professional athlete, selling the brands, managing surf shops, shaping, writing, editing, filming and producing for the sport as a journalist and an executive within the World Surf League. 

 

Life is long, and Chris continues to figure out how to deliberately create meaning and happiness in his work through relationships with family, friends and connection to nature, especially via the ocean.

 

Chris has helped shape and define adventure sports as much as they have defined him. We talk a lot about how to pivot as industries are disrupted, but we also get into big ideas around journalism, how news media shapes our realities and some thoughts on how to vet information in 2020.

 

Chris' podcast is titled "People Who Surf" and runs a lot deeper than a sport, he helps us understand our souls through adventure, places we visit, the people who inhabit them and our shared humanity. 

 

Check out "People Who Surf" here: https://peoplewhosurf.com/author/cmauro/

Season 3, Episode 19: Entrepreneur Adam Mundy from Charlie Todd: How to Start A Side Hustle During COVID, Part 2.

Adam Mundy graduated from Boston University in May 2020 and decided to start a side hustle with his brother while waiting for his international relations career to begin...then COVID hit.

 

Adam and his brother Andrew co-founded CharlieTodd Goods, where they create fine handmade leather wallets and other goods as well as a remarkable blog and lifestyle website of sounds, images and text at www.CharlieToddGoods.com.

 

In this episode, we discuss how and why there hasn't been a better time to start your own side hustle and how Adam and Andrew have created their own productive business by integrating their passions and skills in ways that add value to others to earn value in return.

 

CharlieTodd can be found below and Kickasspirational listeners get 15% off with the code: Kickass

 

http://charlietoddgoods.com

 

http://www.instagram.com/charlietoddgoods

 

Adam would love to help you make custom products not found on the site. There is a comments box where you can interact with him and make your concepts real.

 

Enjoy the ride and break through some barriers of your own this week! Whatever you do, #BeKickasspirational

Season 3, Episode 18: Entrepreneur Lindsey Davidson from LENNY: How to Start a Business and Brand During COVID.

Lindsey Davidson was laid off in March due to COVID and decided to start an apparel business, pursuing her love of fashion in a field where she had experience both selling and creating. Her brand, LENNY  has taken off in a sustainable and scaleable way, leveraging social media, personal connections and manageable capsules that both generate revenue and help define the direction of the business.

 

It seemed that as COVID lingers, the economy continues to behave in strange ways and employment changes, talking with a young entrepreneur who broke through a barrier in her own life as changed happened to her was a good place to come back after a summer hiatus.

 

LENNY can be found below, and Kickasspirational listeners get 20% off with the code: LENNY20

 

https://withlovelenny.com/

 

https://www.instagram.com/withlovelenny/?hl=en

(@withlovelenny on Instragram)

 

Lindsey would love to help you create custom apparel if you're not finding something that works for you in a current capsule. I had her create a shirt/jacket that is incredibly soft but looks like a jean jacket with a navy dye. Let Lindsey help you create a custom piece that's insanely Kickasspirational!

 

Enjoy the ride and break through some barriers of your own this week! Whatever you do, #BeKickasspirational!!!

Season 3, Episode 17: Philosopher Kelly James Clark: The Subtle and Corrosive Power of Racial Bias.

Kelly James Clark has a PhD from Notre Dame and is an international advocate for interfaith cooperation, focusing on the Abrahamic religions. He is project director for “Abrahamic Reflections on Science and Religion” which brings together 36 scholars from 14 countries to reconcile issues in the fields of science and religion.

 

In this podcast, we discuss how difficult it can be to see our own bias because, as studies show, bias is subconscious and instinctual. Kelly says his in his recent article (linked below):

 

"Our biases and fears, those of Republicans and Democrats alike, condone and even encourage our sitting idly by as systemic racism continues unabated. Without admitting our biases and our inaction (Republicans and Democrats alike), we will quickly return to the racist status quo as soon as the protest’s last ember is extinguished.

 

Or our better self, the one that doesn’t want to accede to blinding bias and is more sensitive to the Light of Love and Justice, can and should tell our biased self that America’s systemic racism must stop now."

 

https://medium.com/@kellyjamesclark/the-subtle-and-corrosive-power-of-racial-bias-54d7bda3c5f1

 

We also discuss Kelly's book Strangers, Neighbors, Friends: Muslim-Christian-Jewish Reflections on Compassion and Peace and how bias affects religious views of each other.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Strangers-Neighbors-Friends-Muslim-Christian-Jewish-Reflections/dp/1532619669

 

Kelly also suggested watching two films, Same God Film and 13th:

 

https://samegodfilm.com/

 

https://www.netflix.com/title/80091741

 

Maybe breaking through barriers in our lives requires that we examine our naturally-occurring biases that inform many of our opinions and actions. Kickasspirational isn't a spectator sport. Whatever else you do this week, please, #BeKickasspirational.

Season 3, Episode 16: Perspective. Can we see beyond ourselves, beyond our bias?

This week is an audio monologue that stemmed from a number of conversations and feedback about how important perspective can be to help us be aware of others and not just our own needs.

At the end of this podcast, I read an excerpt from David Foster Wallace's "This Is Water," a commencement address he gave at Kenyon College in 2005 that was published as a small book and can be found on YouTube. it's a short read, and I hope you take the time to read it as well as watch it (below):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC7xzavzEKY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhhC_N6Bm_s

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316068225/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_BeU0EbHV52K3J

Be Kickasspirational.

Season 3 Episode 15 with Hydrant Co-Founders John Sherwin and Jai Jung Kim.

This week we get a bit more technical about entrepreneurship with two under-30 founders, John Sherwin and Jai Kim, about how they’ve been able to create one of the fastest growing hydration start-ups via a direct-to-consumer model that is now getting pulled into strong retail partnerships.

 

 

John and Jai, came together to solve the problem of dehydration under the pressures of life. Jai was working long hours and pursuing his MBA, while John had been on the start-up grind in Silicon Valley while using his background in biology from Oxford to try various approaches to defeating his daily dehydration. Collectively, the coffee, energy drinks and gallons of plain water weren’t good enough, so they came up with a better way.

Together, their commitment to creating a better science-driven hydration product is delivering a healthier solution across the country.

 

Kickasspirational Bro Codes:

 

Hydrant: If you’re interested in better hydration, simpler ingredients and a great-tasting alternative to sugary re-hydration drinks, our friends at Hydrant are offering 20% off for Kickasspirational listeners. There are both caffeine and L-theanine options as well as caffeine free versions depending on preference. Http://drinkhydrant.com and use code: KickAss20

 

SuperCoffee: Our friends at Kitu Super Coffee are offering 25% off their delicious, all-natural, sugar-free Super Coffees and Super Creamers (I drink the creamers straight they are so good). Lots of great MCT fats and 3-10g of protein. Https://drinksupercoffee.com and use code: Kickasspirational25

 

NewAge: The Noni by NewAge immunity bundle combines Tahitian Noni Juice and Cell Defense that can help your body dramatically boost immunity. Use this link to get a bottle of each plus free shipping ($120 value) for $40. https://noninewage.com/roth

 

Season 3 Episode 14 with Political Philosopher Aaron James on Assholes, Surfing with Sartre and Monetary Policy

 

Aaron James holds a PhD from Harvard and is professor of philosophy at the University of California, Irvine. He is the author of Assholes: A Theory, Assholes: A Theory of Donald Trump, and Fairness in Practice: A Social Contract for a Global Economy and numerous academic articles. He was awarded a Burkhardt Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies, and spent the 2009-10 academic year at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. He’s a skilled, lifelong surfer and lives in Irvine, California.

 

When Aaron and I started this podcast, I didn’t realize it would last roughly three hours…an amazing journey about living authentically, being attuned to our environment, traveling through remote parts of the world to surf epic waves and how monetary policy may save us.

 

If you’re enjoying this podcast and want more information about Aaron, there was a recent article in Fast Company where he was quoted as an expert because of his work Assholes: A Theory.

 

https://www.fastcompany.com/90490489/how-reddits-am-i-the-asshole-became-the-definitive-document-of-the-trump-era

 

You can find more of his titles at the link, and Aaron writes in a popular style that is accessible to everyone:

 

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/150710/aaron-james

 

Kickasspirational Bro Codes:

 

SuperCoffee: Our friends at Kitu Super Coffee are offering 25% off their delicious, all-natural, sugar-free Super Coffees and Super Creamers (I drink the creamers straight they are so good). Lots of great MCT fats and 3-10g of protein. Https://drinksupercoffee.com and use code: Kickasspirational25

 

NewAge: The Noni by NewAge immunity bundle combines Tahitian Noni Juice and Cell Defense that can help your body dramatically boost immunity. Use this link to get a bottle of each plus free shipping ($120 value) for $40. https://noninewage.com/roth

Season 3 Episode 13 with Comedian Pete Holmes

Pete Holmes is a creator and comedian who has brought joy to the world through his stand up, podcast (You Made It Weird), television shows (Crashing on HBO), specials and his latest book: Comedy Sex God (that’s a list and not a descriptor of Pete, although many people are saying he is those things). He has a current stand up tour “Silly Silly Fun Boy” that is currently on hold and will resume when safely possible.

 

All things Pete Holmes can be found here:

 

https://peteholmes.com/

 

This podcast with Pete dug into the deeper side of Pete—how he was raised, how things fell apart for him and how he rebuilt his life in a way that has been deliberately liberating and an inspiration to many of his fans. Rob Bell (also on the podcast this year) introduced me to Pete, and if you enjoyed Rob’s interview about learning to shift gears and move in new directions, I think you’ll find some common themes in Pete’s life and experiences. Most significant to me is how Pete has developed a deep joy and inclusive love for the world that is marked with wonder and mystery. He dives into all of it and has fun-yet-profound insights that mark him as one of our modern philsopher-as-comedian archetype that I find so compelling.

 

Kickasspirational Bro Codes:

 

SuperCoffee: Our friends at Kitu Super Coffee are offering 25% off their delicious all-natural, sugar-free Super Coffees and Super Creamers (I drink the creamers straight they are so good). Lots of great MCT fats and 3-10g of protein. Https://drinksupercoffee.com and use code: Kickasspirational25

 

NewAge: The Noni by NewAge immunity bundle combines Tahitian Noni Juice and Cell Defense that can help your body dramatically boost immunity. Use this link to get a bottle of each plus free shipping ($120 value) for $40. Https://noninewage.com/roth

 

Season 3 Episode 12 with Super Coffee CEO Jim DeCicco

Jim DeCicco is the oldest of three twenty-something brothers who created Kitu Super Coffee. Jim serves as the CEO for the business and is a part of the RX3 Ventures family (a fund that I’m involved with). This podcast is among my favorites to date for listeners who are interested in figuring out how to launch an idea, and when it might make sense to turn a part-time obsession into a full-time business.

 

Information on the brothers can be found here:

 

https://drinksupercoffee.com/pages/family

 

Jordan, Jake and Jim created Super Coffee while they were in various stages of either being in university of just out. Jim talks about that journey, the value of sports and education as well as the difference between persistence and perseverance (both of which are necessary to succeed). He also how they went from a small start-up to Shark Tank to the hyper growth that they are experiencing today.

 

Kickasspirational Bro Codes:

 

SuperCoffee: Our friends at Kitu Super Coffee are offering 25% off their delicious, all-natural, sugar-free Super Coffees and Super Creamers (I drink the creamers straight they are so good). Lots of great MCT fats and 3-10g of protein. Https://drinksupercoffee.com and use code: Kickasspirational25

 

NewAge: The Noni by NewAge immunity bundle combines Tahitian Noni Juice and Cell Defense that can help your body dramatically boost immunity. Use this link to get a bottle of each plus free shipping ($120 value) for $40. https://noninewage.com/roth

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/andymolinsky/2019/01/24/jim-decicco-super-coffee-shark-tank-and-great-tips-for-young-entrepreneurs/#4460cae63717

Season 3 Episode 11 with Dr Joe VanderMeer COVID-19 Update

Dr. Joe VanderMeer is a West Michigan head and neck surgeon, ENT specialist, graduate of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, head of his physician group and my brother-in-law.

https://www.lakeshorehealthpartners.com/ear-nose-throat-dr-joseph-vandermeer

 Joe joins the Kickasspirational Podcast to give us an update on the COVID-19 virus from his POV in Holland, Michigan—what’s going on now, what’s been working to contain the virus and where we have opportunities to learn and improve.

 We also discuss the intricacies of being Dutch-Frisian Americans, national and global healthcare politics and a few other topics that might surprise you.

 

Kickasspirational Bro Codes:

 Our friends at Kitu Super Coffee are offering 25% their delicious all-natural, sugar free Super Coffees and Super Creamers (I drink the creamers straight they are so good). Lots of great MCT fats and 3-10g of protein. https://drinksupercoffee.com/ and use code:Kickasspirational25

 

NewAge (where I work now) is offering a trial immunity bundle of our two best products, Tahitian Noni Juice and Cell Defense that can help your body dramatically boost immunity. Use this link and get a bottle of each plus free shipping ($120 value) for $40: https://noninewage.com/roth